“There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed” (Oswald Chambers, in Our Brilliant Heritage).

Abide isn’t a word that we use much anymore. I can’t remember the last time I used the word abide in a sentence, unless I was reading from the Gospel of John in a more traditional translation recently.

But to abide in something isn’t pitching a tent and packing up the next day. It’s being in it for the long haul, so to speak. To abide is to remain. Specifically, to abide in Jesus is more than being around the things of Jesus but immersing in Jesus.

To abide in Jesus is to remain calm when all else is chaotic and uncertain. It’s being able to sleep on a boat in the middle of gale-force winds and crashing waves. It is to be so centered in Jesus that nothing can overthrow your peace or dampen your joy.

Jesus told us as His followers that we must abide in Him as He abides in His Father. Think about that. His abiding in the Father was a daily, hourly, even moment by moment occurrence. It was not a one hour a week or even a three times a week thing. It was every conscious moment of every single day.

I want that, but I confess I don’t really know how to do that. Lord, teach us how to abide in You. Give us the desire above all else to want to be daily aware of and immersed in You so that we can more and more reflect You to everyone we meet so that they will want to know You and abide in You, too. Amen.