We all want to live full and purposeful lives, but many of us are drifting through life unsure of who we are, why we are here, or where we are going. Our days are filled with busyness and noise. We run from one place to another, our minds spinning with things we feel we need to do. We think we must achieve, produce, and go go go in order to live a satisfying life.  We refuse to slow down because the world tells us rest is for the weak. We’re exhausted and unfulfilled, but we know that there has to be more than this.

If you are a believer in Christ, you have been given a clear purpose for your time on earth. Christians share the same purpose: to know and love God, to love and serve others, and to go and make disciples. (Matthew 22:37-39; 28:18-20) The first and most important part of this is to know God. He invites us into relationship with Him, to abide in Him. Toward the end of Jesus’ life, as part of his final instructions, he gave the following command to his disciples:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

The word abide comes from the Greek word, meno, which means to remain; continue; stay; dwell; and endure. In the Bible, the word takes on a deeper intimacy. It means to be connected to Christ as a branch is connected to a vine. While Jesus left the earth physically, He intended for the Christian life to be one of perpetual connection with Him. 

When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior (become a Christian), the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, to abide in us. Jesus also wants us to abide in Him. We are invited into relationship with our Savior. To abide in Christ is to live in constant communication with Him, to worship Him, to rest in Him, to delight in Him, to gain wisdom from Him, and to allow Him to direct our lives. 

Jesus began His ministry by spending 40 days in the wilderness alone with God. He prayed, listened, and meditated. He allowed God to fill Him up, direct His mission, and prepare Him for His journey ahead. Jesus abided in the Father.

While Jesus was in the wilderness, Satan tempted Him. Satan used the same tactics that he used with Eve in the garden of Eden. Satan lied by twisting God’s words. Jesus prevailed where Eve did not, by responding to Satan’s lies with the truth. Each time Satan lied to Jesus, He responded by quoting scripture. The first passage he referenced was Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We need God’s Word like we need food. We must feed our souls with His Word so when we face temptation, we will not get off course. 

God has a full life intended for us, but Satan, the “father of lies” (John 8:44) tries to distract us from God’s plans. He whispers lies telling us that what God has for us is not enough and that we need to forge our own identity in this world, one where our worth is found in what we can achieve. This creates a need within our flesh for the approval of people. He tries to take our focus off God and place it on ourselves, our plans, and what we can achieve in our own effort. However, seeking significance and confidence in the things of this world will never bring ultimate satisfaction. Our identity and our purpose can only be found in the one who created us. 

When we abide in Christ, we become more like Him. Our thoughts, actions, desires, and priorities become more aligned with His’. The day we become a Christian begins a lifetime of sanctification, the process of becoming holy, of becoming more like God. Sanctification does not happen all at once when we are saved. It is a process that happens over time. 

As we get to know Him, He reveals his plans for us and prepares us to carry them out. He also reveals the areas in our life that need work. He convicts us when we are using our gifts for our own glory and reveals areas of our lives that need surrendering to Him. God the Father is like the vinedresser who prunes back the branches so they can bear fruit.

As we continue reading in John 15, we see that we receive love from the vine “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” (John 15: 9) He then commands us in verse 12 to love others: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Again in verse 17, he says, “These things I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:17) When we abide in the Lord, he fills us up and out of his abundant love, we can pour that out onto others. Bearing fruit means to love and serve others and to make disciples–to tell people about God.

In John 15, Jesus presents us with the choice of abiding, or not abiding, in Him. If we do abide in Him, our lives will bear fruit, but without Him, we will not accomplish anything of eternal value. We may achieve a lot during our time on earth, but if our accomplishments do not have eternal significance, then it will all be for nothing. It is through abiding that He prepares us to run the race that he specifically and uniquely designed for each of us to run using the gifts that He has blessed us with. 

When we make abiding in Christ our first priority and seek to walk in obedience, everything else will fall into place. We will be reminded of who we are (our identity is found in Christ and not in earthly achievement or in the approval of others), why we are here (our purpose), the eternal work He is inviting us to take part in (our calling), and how we are to carry it out (through abiding in the vine–through His power).