Dear church,

The idea of “abiding” comes out clearly in this chapter.

“Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. … But the anointing that you received from him abides in you … just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

To let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit abide in us is to allow the Word and the Spirit to nurture us along. In our freedom, we seem to have the ability to push out the Word and the Spirit. We have freedom to reject their movement in our lives.

In a marriage, a husband and wife move in harmony. Both pour themselves into the relationship. They give freely – and they receive freely. If the husband or wife refuses to receive the love offered by the other, the marriage will break down over time. Plain and simple.

And in a marriage relationship, two become one flesh. This isn’t so far off from this idea of mutual “abiding” that we see in 1 John 2. God abides in us, and we abide in God. Husbands and wives do the same. They become one.

The idea for us today may be the idea of allowing God’s Word and the Holy Spirit fully to “abide” in us. John urges us to “let” that happen.

Is there any way we are pushing back against the work of God in our lives? Sometimes, I suppose, we do reject the call of God – the call to forgive, the call to open our hearts to other people, the call to be generous. You know what it may be for you.

Please think about this today.

Chris