Wednesday: Abide
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 1st of April 2026
The disciples followed Jesus down the stairs from the upper room onto the street below. As they walked together to Gethsemane, on what was one of the most significant nights in earth’s history, they probably didn’t realize how poignant some of Jesus’ last words to them in the upper room really were.
What did Jesus say in John 15:1-11? What does that mean for us?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
These words, spoken by Jesus Himself, describe what a close relationship with God is like. Notice the word that is repeated, not just twice but ten times: abide. To abide in Jesus is to live in connection with Him.
As He faces the Cross, not only does Jesus emphasize the great importance of this abiding in Him, but He clearly and simply states the practical aspects of what it looks like in our lives.
Which is: Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches. As a result of our abiding with (being connected to) Him, fruit will grow on our branches. We can’t make fruit grow ourselves. Sometimes we might look as if we’re abiding, but the evidence will be in our lack of fruit, and eventually our branches will dry up. If we’re withered, the Vinedresser will eventually cut off the branches. Regardless of whether we bear fruit or not, our branches will be pruned.
At the same time, we all face challenges and painful moments. If we abide in Him, these moments will produce more fruit long-term. Fruit-bearing confirms who we are: His disciples. We bear fruit to bring Him (not ourselves) glory. Abiding in Jesus means keeping His commandments, which are a reflection of His beautiful character of unselfish love. Abiding in Jesus brings great joy. Abiding in Jesus means doing what He asks of us, as a response to Him. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3, NKJV).
If you think about it, abiding in Jesus is one of the antidotes to our Laodicean condition (Revelation 3:20, John 15:4). It’s the great secret of a fulfilled and meaningful life on earth and into eternity; yet, somehow we so easily forget Jesus’ counsel.
Ultimately, Jesus says to each of us, “ ‘As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love’ ” (John 15:9, NKJV). The love of Jesus is the most compelling cord that draws us to Him, and when we know this love, we will be deeply moved to respond with love to God and to others.
Jesus uses the vine as an example of the connectedness not only between him and us but between one another. It is a great illustration. I grew up in an era where we were a lot less dependent on shops for fruit and vegetables and apart from bananas, we grew nearly everything else (and better quality and greater variety than shops stock today) I know about pruning vines and fruit-trees, cutting off the unproductive bits and consigning them to the garbage. Later in life I migrated to computer science and its mathematical models where we use networks to express relationships between data nodes. It is unsurprisingly similar to the vine model.
In a network a node, or a group of nodes can become separated from the main network. These nodes or nodal groups take up memory but are not reachable by the programs that use them. (Photoshop used to be notorious for this.) One of the functions of an operating system is to find these isolated nodes and reclaim their memory. This process is known as garbage collection.
One of the main purposes of the parable in John 15 is to emphasise the importance of maintain a connection with God, but it does not end there. I am not really sure why the author stopped at verse 11. Note this bit:
It is important to understand the role that each of us has in this networking thing. Connection to God comes with connections to one another. Monasticism was never supposed to the pathway to understanding God. We only really appreciate the relationship with God when we value our relationship with each other.
There are three takeaways from this network thing:
The most authentic reality check on the status of our Christianity is the kind of fruit we produce. This is the only foolproof of who we are. A good tree produces good fruit, and bad tree produces bad fruit. Likewise, who we as Christians is evidently reflected by our character and actions.
”You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.” (Matthew 7:16-18)
The Word of God is explicitly clear that human beings have no capacity to produce good fruit by themselves. Our default mode is to do evil. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). In fact, since birth, our natural inclination is towards evil. “Every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.” (Genesis 8:21). We know we are intrinsically evil and unfortunately, we cannot change ourselves. On our own, it is not possible to change our brokenness, but help is available. The help is only found in Christ Jesus. If we can abide (connect) with Jesus and our helplessness will cease. Instead of producing bad fruit, we will start to produce good fruit. The question is, how can we abide in Christ the true vine?
1. We must abide in the Word of God (John 15:7). The Word of God has got power to change lives. Unfortunately, we seem not to be making the Word of God our top priority. The things of earth have consumed our top priorities. Dear Jesus, please help us to make your Word our top necessity.
2. We must resolve to improve our prayer life. Less prayer, less power. The devil knows this and he is not letting us pray as we ought to. In the name of Jesus, our prayer life will be a top priority going forward.
3. We must trust God and obey His commandments. “If you keep my commands, you will abide in my love.” (John 15:10).
4. We must fully surrender our lives to Jesus. As branch cannot survive outside the vine. Unless we completely surrender our lives to Jesus and anything else is false hope.
5. We must resolve to live a disciplined life. We must allow God to prune our bad habits, behaviours, attitudes, desires and passions.
Dear Jesus, please, help us to be willing to be changed by you. Amen.
We need to conduct a sincere and honest reality check to know if we are truly connected to the Vine, the reason is because we might be so sure that we are connected meanwhile the Vine – Jesus, does not recognize our connection to Him.
There is no way a branch that is well connected to the Vine will not receive enough nutrition and nourishment to bear appreciate or corresponding fruits.
There’s a danger of pretending to abiding in Christ and yet reality is the opposite. In Matt. 7:20-23 is a clear statement from the Vine;
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. – Matthew 7:20-23
The Vine is willing to receive us but are we willing to make some necessary sacrifices in order to get connected and abide in Him?
I remember once having a Bible study with a group that called themselves, “Sydney Church of Christ”. I was invited to the study after an encounter with a couple of passionate street preachers in Hornsby where I lived at the time. The study wasn’t conducted by the person I met on the street, but by an older guy who clearly had a fuller grasp on scripture. As he conducted the study guiding us through the Word, it became clear that we were heading for a conclusion that would appear logical based on the cherry-picked texts he was using.
The conclusion? Disciples of Jesus bear fruit, and “fruit” are baptised disciples. He then told me that he was a “fruit inspector” and asked rather condescendingly, “How many disciples have you baptised?” I suspect the street encounter was an opportunity for his zealous “disciples” to try and get some “fruit” of their own.
This experience was a valuable lesson in the importance of clearly defining terms – and accepting invitations from overly enthusiastic “street preachers”.
The world is full of hustles and distractions, and self-reliance has become a rhythm. The call to abide in Christ is not just an ancient instruction; it is a countercultural, life-giving mandate. With our natural tendency to slip away and forget our connection, our urgent need to depend on God alone becomes even clearer. It is easy to forget when endless demands beckon us, and when push comes to shove, we often find it easier to believe lies than the truth—revealing how quickly we drift from the Vine, the main source of life. Jesus reminds us in John 15:5, “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.” This truth confronts our independence and calls us back to dependence.
The world after the fall continues to overflow with information, opinions, and advice on almost every issue, yet believers long for something deeper—something grounded, trustworthy, and enduring. Think of a phone that remains constantly disconnected from its charger. No matter how advanced it is, it cannot function without power; eventually, the battery drains and it becomes useless. The same is true for us. Without Christ, who is the Vine and our only true source, we wither. We can only thrive when we are plugged into Him. As Psalm 1:3 describes, the one who delights in the Lord “is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” In a noisy, self-sufficient world, abiding in Christ is not optional—it is essential.
An important part of assisting others to abide in Christ is “modelling Christ” before them in “the flesh and blood” in our daily lives. One of Psychology’s great laws is- that the unknown can only begin to be perceived by starting with what is already known.
Thus as parents and guardians our duty is not only to take our children to Sabbath School but in our everyday lives to “dramatise” before them the Fatherhood of God.
The Bible makes it clear that without Jesus Christ into our lives we are nothing. If we are not connected to the vine we are connected to something else because there is no middle ground. So let us adhere to His words. Repent and reconnect before it is too late.
Abiding in Jesus is the source of the strength of our relationship with Him. Abiding in Jesus is also about closeness to Jesus. It is in our closeness to Him that we experience the joy, the blessings,and the reality of what it means to trust and have faith in God.It is also where we able to draw strength to do His will.
I remember as a child, when my Mom would take us, her four children, shopping for clothes for the new school year at the large Sears or Goldblatts Department stores in Chicago. She always told her brood of four children to stay close (abide) to her and not to wander off. Like a mother hen with her chicks she would carefully lead us to the bus and to the store, always holding hands as a human chain crossing busy streets, and eventually making our way into the enormous store. Naturally as a young boy, clothes shopping was, BORING. The toy department was always infinitely more appealing. She would always hold as an enticement to cooperate with her, a visit to the Toy department after the clothes shopping was done. Of course we could only look and dream of having them for our own because we weren’t wealthy. Nevertheless a visit to the toy department was for my young mind akin to a visit to heaven.
One time it happened, in the mundane boredom of clothing shopping, I decided that I could navigate myself to the toy department for a quick peek while Mom was distracted. Let’s just say that it didn’t end up well. I got lost in the department store. The fear was palpable for my young mind and body as the thought of never finding my family again, terrorized me. After what seemed like an eternity, I was reunited with my family, thanks to the help of a kind and caring store employee. Though I was happy to be reunited with my family, my Mom wasn’t happy that I disobeyed and wandered off. It presented an instant teaching moment followed by appropriate public chastening 😱. A lesson that I still remember some six decades after the event.
I can’t help but make the connection to my relationship with Jesus, even today. He says, “stay close to me, don’t wander off.” The world has infinitely more distractions and enticements than a department store to a six year old boy. When I find myself distanced from my Savior the first thing to go is peace of mind, a subtle anxiety that slowly turns to overwhelming panic. It’s so easy to get distracted in life by things that promise so much but seldom deliver. The ways and goods of life are always oversold and can’t replace the benefits of abiding with Jesus. Everything that our “soul” desires can only be found in communion with him. Why do we wander? Why do we think that the “grass is greener on the other side?” I don’t know. When we get there we discover that there are weeds, thorns, thistles, and manure there too. We long for what we don’t have only to discover that ultimately nothing satisfies as much as abiding, staying close with Jesus. Time and again I bang my head against the wall of self determinism only to find myself exhausted and depleted of everything that I was hoping to experience. Nothing and no one satisfies the deepest needs of the human experience like a closer walk with Jesus. He knows that, which is why he says, “abide with me.”
I want and need to know him and abide with him more. How about you?
Oh, i Want to Know You More, Steve Green
This is another great song that fits our text for today to a t.
Teach Me to Abide, Jody Cross
I discovered it on a CD the Canadian Bible society put out for their 100th birthday. The artist is a Canadian worship pastor. I wish the song was better known.
Christina, that is a perfect song for today’s topic. Very excellent and poignant lyrics and music.
Thanks for sharing it.
Beautiful, thanks for sharing!
I like that Jesus didn’t only encourage us to abide in Him, but also revealed how to be sure we are abiding in Him. Are you bearing fruit?
I thought of the fact that an apple tree, when it produces delicious apples, who are the apples for? Your fruit is for others, not for yourself.
So the true measure of whether we are abiding in Christ is what people are experiencing from us. Would they say they are experiencing good fruit by virtue of being connected to you?
The easiest way to begin discovering this is simply by asking the people you spend the most time with. What would your children say, spouse say, parents say, neighbors say?
My prayer is that we all bear good fruit.
I am reading John 5:3 for the first time with a new understanding: ”For this is the LOVE of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
It is the Love of God which causes us to want to keep His commantments with joy in our hearts.
“For this is the Love of God!” – that He called us out of the darkness of this world into His marvelous heavenly Light for us to abide in always. Because He loved us, we have received great joy when we do what is right in His eyes. We want to talk about this joy, wanting others to benefit from this same love of Righteousness which He has placed into our hearts.
Zephaniah Ch.3 speaks to the loss of His protection because of Israel’s unrigheousness, but not the loss of His Love. In light of this great national disaster, He is seen to demonstrates His Goodness! God has called us to abide in Him and trust Him because it is He who will set all things right.
Do we recognize all the things He has done and is doing for us? Do we give Him enough of our love and devotion to thank Him? He gave us a new life in Christ Jesus – an unfathomable blessing which keeps us always close to the Father’s heart – being watched over and cared for. What more could man want? Zephania 3:17; John 3:16; Rom.8:38-39;
John 15:3. “Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”
This Is a word of encouragement in the midst of teaching. Christ Is giving the disciples strength to carry on. In essence He is telling them and us. I have brought you this far by faith, leaning on Me, trusting in My holy word. I’ve never failed you yet, I never will.
Then He goes into what He wants us to do to glorify Him by staying connected to Him, the vine, which is the only way to exalt Him, bearing fruit from His branches us. Our job is to stay connected to Christ. Which is a light load. Matthew 11:28. Staying connected, abiding in Christ, we never grow weary. For His grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12:9.