“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 15:5
You know, friends, relationships can sometimes be messy. Since we live in a flawed and imperfect world, there is no question that developing meaningful relationships with others takes a lot of work.
I’ve always heard the phrase, “To have a friend, you have to be a friend.” I often tell my 10-year-old granddaughter that very thing. Ultimately, I want her to reach out to other children who might be in need of a friend. In doing so, she will likely gain a friend, as well as develop a meaningful relationship with the other child.
So what about our relationship with God? I firmly believe that our deepest desire should be to spend as much time as we can developing and maintaining our relationship with Our Heavenly Father. Just like the hard work involved in developing earthly relationships, this too, will take work. On our part, it will take consistency and dedication to our great God.
I do know that He created us for relationship through His Son, Jesus Christ. We are to come to the Father through the Son. If we abide in Christ through worship, praise, prayer, and the study of God’s Word, we will develop the mutual relationship that He intended for us to have. We will then bear the fruit of knowing and trusting Him without reservation.
We live in a fast-paced world with many distractions that will pull our focus away from the things of God. At times, I have been guilty of rushing through time spent with my Heavenly Father. Instead of laying it all out before Him, I’ll catch myself going through the motions of prayer and Bible study. That is certainly not ever been my intention. And, I am very repentant of that weakness in my spiritual walk with the Lord Jesus.
Friends, my prayer today is that our greatest desire would be to live out Jesus’ words in the above scripture, John 15:5. Abiding in Christ will always bring eternal implications as we develop such a sweet relationship with Him. The more time we spend in His presence, the more time we will want to spend in His presence. We will become more aware of His presence in our lives each day. He will then use us, His committed servants and friends, to help Him do the Father’s work here on earth. That’s a “win win” situation for us, and for Him!!
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