21 Days to Clarity, Day 5: Abide

For Day 4, Click Here



When it comes to Bible translations, I’m a New International Version kind-of-girl. Modern language. Easy to understand. Bible translation for the simple-minded (like myself). What’s not to like?

Except today. Today I’m all over King James. Some of ye often tarry therein, but I have not so much dwelt within the pages of this ancient translation of late, since discovering God hast given us more moderneth translationseth.

But today, I journey back to the KJV because of the word “abide.” The translators of the NIV used other words to translate these passages, but not our friend King James. He liked the word “abide.” I liketh it, too.

Main Entry: abide

Pronunciation: \ə-ˈbīd\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): abode \-ˈbōd\ or abid•ed; abid•ing

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English ābīdan, from ā-, perfective prefix + bīdan to bide; akin to Old High German ir-, perfective prefix — more at BIDE
Date: before 12th century

transitive verb

1 : to wait for : AWAIT

2 a : to endure without yielding : WITHSTAND b : to bear patiently : TOLERATE

3 : to accept without objection

intransitive verb

1 : to remain stable or fixed in a state

2 : to continue in a place : SOJOURN

synonyms see BEAR, CONTINUE


As in:

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. (John 15:7)

And


He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalm 91:1)


And also

Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. (I Corinthians 7:24)

I’ve been thinking about this word all day and its relevance to hearing God’s voice clearly. And I’m wondering if maybe one of the reasons we don’t hear Him speak often or at all is because we don’t choose to abide in Him.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:4)

I remember as a new Christian reading scriptures that commanded me to pray without ceasing. I didn’t get it. Prayer was a deliberate act, often performed on the knees or in some proper prayer position, completely alone or with other believers who were also deliberately performing the act of prayer in proper prayer position.

When would I go to work? When would I go to school? When would I eat or sleep or hang out with my friends and family? How was I supposed to live a productive life if all God wanted me to do was pray all day? I mean, seriously, our church held services four times a week (and I did my best to show up to each and every one)…wasn’t that enough?

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (I John 2:28)

As I learned more about serving God, I realized God never intended for me to separate my secular actions from my sacred actions. There was never really meant to be times I did God-things and times I did human-things.

But rather, a life that abides in Christ knows how to intricately integrate the two.

I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. (Psalm 61:4)

There are times when God calls me away to a private place to speak with Him and meditate upon His word. And surely there are times when I go to the house of God to worship with others in the body of Christ. But the other twenty three hours of the day, He simply calls me to abide in Him.

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. (Psalm 15:1-2)

When I walk through life obeying God’s commands for me, doing good for the people He’s placed in my life and meditating on the truth of His word, I’m abiding in Him no matter what else is going on at the moment. It doesn’t matter if I’m working or resting or playing or eating. Those are just details.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. (John 15:10)

Acknowledging God in everything I do—from the mighty to the mundane, from ministry to the orphans mopping up the floor—keeps my mind fixed on His holiness and His plan for my life. It helps me remember that every single minute of every single day is to be used for His purpose and for His glory.

I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. (John 12:46)

And in doing so, I create a clear path through which God can speak to me. See, if I’m consciously living to trust and please my Savior, He delights in revealing more and more truth to me. He wants me to know Him and His will for my life. Really, He does!

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (I John 2:27)

And the more He reveals to me about His character and His purpose for my life on this earth, the more I long to abide in Him. What a wonderful cyclical effect!

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:5)


How about you? Do you find your life to be a juggling act between God-things and human-things, or have you struck a balance and learned to abide in Him? Tell me about it…