In our Choose Chat this week, Jill and I threw out a challenge to CHOOSE to ABIDE.
Abide means to accept or act in accordance with (a recommendation or decision).
Abiding in Him, means we are accepting or acting in accordance with His word.
As a young child, I thought being a good Christian meant to keep God’s commandments, go to church, obey my parents…basically being a rule follower, and those who know me, know that I am good at that!
As I grew in my Christian faith, I did one of those “Wow, I could’ve had a V-8” slaps. I realized that being a Christian is so much more.
Jesus says that we can begin a special relationship with God by committing ourselves to follow him.
When we abide in Him, we are committing ourselves to Him. For me, it means I am fully surrendering myself to Him.
Sounds a bit daunting doesn’t it? Especially when I do like to have control. Yes, my name is Laura and I am a control freak. Guess what? I do still have some control. I have control over what I CHOOSE.
God knows I am not perfect. Even people in the Bible who surrendered and followed God were far from perfect, yet they had faith in a God who was able to come through in seemingly dire situations.
Have you heard the phrase “Wherever your focus is, your vision will be as well?” What you focus your life on, will be what motivates you.
What is motivating you today?
Is your vision clear concerning the things of God? Are you paying particular attention to His word and what He is instructing you to do today and again tomorrow?
There are many things in life that focus our priorities...social media, school, jobs, relationships, how we look, the clothes we want...the list goes on and on. When our focus is not on God, but on worldly things, that is what our decisions will be based on.
When God and His kingdom are our focus, then our vision will be to do everything we can to please Him. We will look to Him for answers when it comes to those decisions about school, jobs, relationships...all our needs, wants and desires.
This is when we are truly abiding in Him.
I have found that when I get overwhelmed with my worldly desires, it is because I lack the time and energy to be able to focus on all that I have in front of me. I start spending my time figuring out how to keep control so the balls I am juggling don’t fall.
Time is and will always be a finite resource...there are only so many hours in a day.
Energy on the other hand, is an infinite resource. My energy is renewed when I choose to abide in Him. When I choose to stop controlling and juggling the balls, and choose to surrender and abide in Him.
When I abide in Him and His desire for my life, I find that not only is my energy renewed, but the time in my day is better spent.
Have you ever had someone tell you...don't take your eye off the ball? They tell us that because when we take our eye off the ball, we lose focus and ultimately, we may lose in the end.
It's the same when it comes to surrendering to God. If we don't keep our eyes on Him, we will lose our focus. When we lose our focus, we will feel lost from Him.
I really think we will find what we are meant to do when we abide in Him.
With love and joy,
Laura Pedersen