“Abide in Me” (John 15:4).
We are meant to abide in Christ in the present moment; not in the past or in the future, but in the now. The example we have of true abiding is that of the incarnate Son with the Father in heaven; the inner abiding of Jesus with the Father was unsullied by external circumstances; He was one with God and at home with Him no matter where His body was placed upon this earth. He never chose His own circumstances in which to abide but submitted to His Father’s dispensations for Him; that is true meekness.
No man is born supernaturally equipped with habits or character; habits have to be formed and character developed; this is what Jesus did; He formed his character and His habits on the basis of His communion with the Father. We too, must do the same on the basis of the new life that God has put within us. We may be thrilled by the sudden spiritual illumination that we get from time to time, but character and habits are formed in the commonplace, the everyday, the ordinary.
What we have inherited is the divine nature Peter tells us (2 Peter 1:4) and we have to establish and reinforce that by virtue, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). We are to be “diligent” in doing this. It is in the drudgery of daily life that these qualities are developed to maturity; the great hindrance to spiritual growth and maturity is that we look for the “big” things to do; we keep our spiritual energy in neutral until something that we deem “important” comes along.
But let us follow the example of our Lord and Master; “and Jesus rose…and took a towel….and began to wash the disciples feet” (John 13:4-5).
He did what was before Him; He was one with the Father in the circumstances in which it pleased the Father to place Him; that is the lesson here. We cannot suspend our abiding until the circumstances suit us; Jesus is in the here and now, not the past or the future; He is a living God and He only lives as we are abiding in Him.
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