As Long as I Abide (poem)

When reading and hearing about the many great promises God has made to us who accept Jesus as His offering for sin, is your initial inclination to ‘Grab and go!’ – that is to embrace and accept the promise, and then run with it, forgetting the small conditional phrase ingrained into each promise – ‘…if you abide’? If so, I am in your good company!

Abide: continuing in a particular condition, attitude, relationship, etc. I have been pondering this a small word to understand what it may mean in the context of life today. This word appears in the Gospel of John 17 times, 10 (60%) of which occur during the most passionate, private moments Jesus had with His 11 faithful disciples. With such an emphasis on this one word, I wonder what these disciples may have heard, what might they have imagined this meant given the socio-cultural context in which they lived. More importantly, what does and should it mean to us in our world today, especially with so many things vigorously competing for the attention of our minds, hearts and bodies 24 hours a day?

To get the point across, Jesus used the example of a grape vine and its many branches that can only produce grapes as long as their connection to the vine remains unbroken or undamaged. This was a familiar and visual example for His audience (even to the fishermen), but may not be as familiar with us who may not have experience in grape orchards. On one extreme, we might interpret this to mean seeing just about everything we experience ‘through the lens’ of Scripture – perhaps not a bad idea if you can do it … sustainably. I cannot! On the other extreme, we may easily be tempted to ‘throw in the towel’ from trying to understand and apply a realistic/practical meaning of this word to our lifestyles today.

So what does abiding look like, practically speaking? Do the meaning and intent of this word flex with culture? Is the interpretation monolithic or individualized? Since we humans think in pictures, what images come to your mind when considering the oft-repeated instruction to ‘abide’? Whatever it means, clearly these questions are worth pondering since only as we abide:

• Are God’s promises made effectual and full in our lives (Psalm 91:1);
• Do we become fruitful for the Kingdom (John 15:4-5); and
• Does God answer our prayers according to His will (John 15:7).

Ergo, when we cease to abide, the effective reach and impact of these promises may be significantly blunted or blocked altogether (unless Grace intervenes); we lose the opportunity to be fruitful for The Kingdom; and our prayers are hindered or unanswered. 

Yep, I conclude this tiny word, ‘abide’, packs a powerful wallop! Would you agree?

Here is a possible way to increase the volume on this soft-spoken, inherent condition of God’s promises. With every reading or hearing of a relevant promise, consider inserting into your understanding this phrase or one of its many variants: 

"as long as I abide".

Variants include: as I abide, when I abide, if I abide, because I abide, since I abide, due to my abiding, while abiding, etc.

Abiding enables us to remain on, and in the equivalent of God's private property or territory, whereas ceasing to abide in Him immediately puts us onto/into our enemy's property or territory. Other words for abide include 'dwell' (Psalm 91), ‘stand’ (Ephesians 6:14), and ‘stand fast’ (Galatians 5:1). Do you know others?

~~~

Though God loves one-and-all un-conditionally,
His promises are not un-conditional, so we see!
They have an embedded condition, spoken softly,
Whose volume will increase when on our knee.

He doesn't have security fences electrified
To teach us in His territory to abide.
Nor does He use even one simple lock
Our desire to leave His abode to block.

He must put baby Christians in sort of a crib,
And feed them The Word with a spiritual bib.
An older, bibbed Christian sucking on milk 
Will be very easy prey for satan to bilk!

Without meat he’ll have insufficient spiritual energy
To achieve necessary heart-mind-and-body synergy. 
Abiding requires a mature, disciplined heart and mind--
Someone whose eyes, satan's lies can't so easily blind.  

Whenever we step into the spotlight of pride,
Right then and there, we've ceased to abide.
But in so many areas of our spiritual walk
We can’t see so clearly with eyes like a hawk.

Calendars, notes, alarms -- all sorts of reminders
To help us remember our time not to squander.
Avoiding consequences of wrong directions we’re sliding
Requires a clear signal of when we’ve stopped abiding.

Here is the quick way we're all inspected
To see if our abiding has been infected.
Clearly and loudly God’s message it'll convey: 
‘Abide is the other side of My word … OBEY!’