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One of the Bible studies that I lead is a group consisting of college and career adults. I love the age group because, for the most part, they are highly motivated and excited about life and the potential ahead of them. The danger which they might not always see is the effects that material success might bring. One pastor put it this way: “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” A passage in scripture that really brings this home is John 15:5 where Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.“ This reminds us all that success is really only success if the things which we are accomplishing are a result of being in Christ, and being filled with the Spirit. Someone might argue,  “I know I’ve walked away from God for a while now, but I really work hard at my job, I have a great house, a really nice car and can eat out anytime I want.” According to John 15:5, the Lord Jesus would respond:  “It means nothing to me. It means nothing for the kingdom. It means nothing for eternity. To “abide in Christ” means “to pitch a tent with Jesus.” It is like going on a camping trip with Jesus alone, to talk and learn. It means to observe his ways, his demeanor, his emotions, and his character.  In the early 1970s the film, Jeremiah Johnson, told of the life of a man who left the world behind to become a mountain man in solitude. After a while he was failing miserably until he stumbled upon an older experienced mountain man. This man saw Jeremiah‘s plight and offered him help. The old man spent days teaching and showing the young man the ways of the mountains so he would not only survive, but flourish and “bear much fruit.” In the case of the true followers of Jesus it is abiding in Jesus that brings about real spiritual fruit. Earlier in John 15,  Jesus stated, Abide in me, and I in you. The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (v. 4)  Hard work is great, but don’t put “the cart before the horse.” Hard work apart from Jesus builds a life of clay that one day crumbles. Hard work and passion that results from a life that has been not only redeemed by Jesus, but empowered by walking daily with Jesus builds an ironclad life with continuing results and eternal consequences! Now here’s an additional bonus to all of this: “abiding in Jesus” is the secret to real happiness. In fact, it is the only way to obtain a deep-in-the-soul joy that doesn’t fade over time. Jesus guarantees it: “those things I have spoken to you that, my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”(John 15:11)

Abiding in Jesus,
Pastor Scott Johnson