Why Don't We Abide?

       I am currently on Christmas break from my first semester at Grace University. As I look back, I can barely believe all that has happened in a few short months. The theme at my university is the theme of "Abide." When I found this out I was all about it and excited that that was the main focus of the year. As the months continued on, though, I didn't see much of a difference in myself, there wasn't much abiding happening.

       In the Bible, the word abide is used 82 times, in 77 different verses. It is clearly a topic that is on God's heart and in His mind. So why do I find it so hard to do it? Going to a Christian college is a struggle. You are surrounded by other Christians and everything is focused on the Bible, yet sometimes you feel so distant from God. It is difficult to find a balance between studying the Bible for classes and studying the Bible in order to abide in Christ and seek to grow in Him.

       I have never been one to make New Year's resolutions, but these year I think one is in order. I realized that I was simply just expecting to grow in Christ because of where I was living and going to school. The fact of the matter is, I was just waiting around for abiding to happen, when really I need to get up and do something about it. This coming semester I am going to try to make it a point to be more in God's word and to learn how to abide in His love.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

John 15:1-5