As some of you know, each year I try to challenge myself
with a spiritual resolution. This year I chose to challenge myself to spend
more time with God. Many times we feel we are too busy. I know this year I was
very busy with many different things. I could’ve used excuses and said “I’m too
busy to spend time in the word.” But, each day I spent time with God. You could
also say I was abiding with God each day. Abide isn’t a word that we tend to
use much nowadays. The only time I have really heard the word abide used much
is when someone says, “I cannot abide with that.” According to dictionary.com
abide means: “to remain, continue, or stay.” I was remaining and staying with
God all year.
I chose this challenge because at the beginning of the
year I read the verse John 15:4. The verse says: “Abide in me, and I in you. As
the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither
can you, unless you abide in me.” This verse is basically saying that we are like
a branch. God is the vine. Without an attachment to the vine, the branch would
not survive. The branch would not produce fruit. As Christians, we are called
to produce fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). If we abide with God, then we will
produce his fruit. We will grow in him and get to know him more.
I learned a lot this year during the challenge. I had a
few rough patches this year, and I am sure you did as well. However, this year
when I went through these rough patches I knew the word better and I kept
saying verses to myself. This helped me to get through tough times. Knowing the
word made me feel like God was walking right beside me. I knew he was walking
beside me in previous years; but knowing his word and abiding with him helped
me feel closer to him.
I encourage you, as 2019 ends and 2020 is here, to come
up with your own spiritual challenge. If you don’t have one, then why not try
spending time abiding with God? I promise you, you will learn a lot and you
will grow in him.
Image from here.
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