“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
Jn 15:7
I have no idea how may times I’ve heard this verse but, like every other verse in the Bible, it can speak something new every day. A year or so back, I grew even more determined to stay in God’s Word when I saw the true significance of one of the conditions that comes after “If.”
“If…My words abide in you…”
The Word of God must abide – live, dwell, and be firmly planted – IN ME in order for me to qualify for this promise.
This doesn’t just happen. It is up to me to seek out God’s Word, to go after the seed I want planted in me. I go after it by being in church and sitting under the teaching of the man or woman of God. I go after it by reading the Word for myself. I go after it by studying it on my own, participating in Bible studies, listening to the Bible app on my phone… Like any good farmer, I seek out quality seed and get it in the ground. (I also watch my heart to make sure the ground is good!)
Then, to ensure that it grows and lives in me, I nurture that Word. I think about it, chew on it, ask God to teach me through it. I record my thoughts and, yes, write blog posts. I also discuss what I’ve seen and learned with others who are cultivating God’s Word in their lives.
I WILL make sure His Word lives in me regardless, because I genuinely love both my God and the Bible, but it is good to know that in doing so I also work towards qualifying myself for the promise found in the fifteenth chapter of the book of John.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C