Abide In Me

“If My words abide in you …”

John 15:7 NASB

In ancient Jewish culture, formal education began at six years of age. Jewish boys enrolled in their local synagogue school called bet sefer (“house of the book”). On the first day of class, according to tradition, the rabbi would cover their slate with honey. Honey was the symbol of God’s favor. Then the rabbi would instruct his students to lick the honey off their slate while reciting from Psalm 119: “How sweet are Your words^a to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” It was their first lesson and their most important lesson. It taught the students that nothing is sweeter than the Word of God. It taught them that the Bible is the land of milk and honey, the true Promised Land. By the time students graduated from bet sefer four years later, they had memorized the entire Torah. Every jot and tittle of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy was engraved on their cerebral cortex via memorization.

After graduating from bet sefer, the best students continued on with bet Talmud (“house of learning”). From the age of ten to fourteen, students memorized the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. For what it’s worth, I think it’s likely that Jesus attended bet Talmud. Scripture doesn’t explicitly mention^b it, but even at twelve years of age, Jesus wowed the rabbis in the temple courts with his understanding.

After bet Talmud, a select few graduated to bet midrash (“house of study”). Those who didn’t make the cut would typically go into the family business. Applicants asked a local rabbi if they could be his talmidim (“disciples”). If the rabbi chose them, he would extend a verbal invitation: lech acharai. Translation: “come, follow me.” Inherent within that invitation was an understanding that it meant total surrender, complete devotion. It meant taking that rabbi’s yoke on yourself. The yoke represented the sum total of the rabbi’s philosophy and practice. It meant spending every waking moment with him. It meant going wherever he went, doing whatever he did, listening to everything he said.

The complete devotion of discipleship is sometimes described as being “covered in the dust of your rabbi.” It was an allusion to the fact that disciples followed their rabbi so closely that the dust the rabbi kicked up with his heels would literally cover the disciples who followed him.

The Word of God

One of the surest ways to get into the presence of God is to get into the Word of God. If we get into God’s Word, God’s Word will get into us. It will radically change the way we think, the way we live, the way we love. But it requires more than a casual reading. In fact, the Bible wasn’t meant to be read. It was meant to be memorized and meditated on. It was meant to be prayed and practiced. We have to abide in the Word of God and let the Word of God abide in us.

Words that are repeated throughout Scripture are repeated because they bear repeating. It’s God’s way of saying, “Don’t let this go in one ear and out the other.” These are words we need to pay special attention to. One of them is the word abide, which is repeated no less than eight times in John 15. In verse 7, John writes, “If you abide^c in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

The word abide is a present imperative verb, which indicates a continual action. It’s not something we start and stop; it’s something we do for the rest of our lives. And we do more of it. The goal is to get closer and closer to God. And the way we do this is by abiding in His Word.

According to rabbinic tradition, every word of Scripture has seventy faces and six hundred thousand meanings. Each word is kaleidoscopic. And the word abide is a great example. Let me turn the kaleidoscope to reveal five reflections of meaning.

To stay overnight. Just like Jesus, who prayed well into the night on the eve of His crucifixion, sometimes we need to press into the presence of God a little longer. And if we linger in His presence, God’s presence will linger on us. In my experience, God responds to extra effort with an extra blessing. It’s those who spend the most time in God’s presence that God can use the most because they are the people He can trust the most.

To hold fast. Every time we pray, we gain a position in the spiritual realm. The kingdom of God is advanced and the forces of darkness must retreat. And our most effective weapon is the Word of God. It’s the same weapon Jesus used when He was tempted by Satan. Abiding in the Word of God is the way we take enemy territory and hold our ground. It’s our best offense and best defense.

To stand still. Remember when the Israelites found themselves cornered between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army? The Lord spoke to Moses with these words: “Fear ye not,^d stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” When we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, we must stand on the Word of God and trust His promises. We will face some problems we cannot solve, some situations we cannot change. That’s when we may feel like panicking, but it is the time to stand still and wait for the Lord’s deliverance. No one likes being in those situations, but God often does His most dramatic miracles at those very times.

To be moved. The prophet Haggai writes, “The LORD^e stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.” When the Word of God gets in our spirit, which is the spiritual womb, new passions are conceived within us. And inaction is no longer an option. We cannot abide in the Word of God and not be moved to action. We cannot sit on the sidelines. Like David, who ran to the front lines, we’ll be looking for giants to conquer.

To tarry. This is precisely what Jesus^f told His disciples to do after His ascension. Just as they tarried in the upper room for ten days, we must tarry in the Word of God. Perhaps the spiritual disciplines of studying Scripture and engaging in prayer aren’t two separate disciplines. One is the key to the other.

We’re so busy trying to do something for God that we don’t realize that the key to our success in any endeavor is letting God do something for us. We cannot do something for God if we aren’t with God. We have to press into His presence. And the surest way to get into God’s presence is by getting into God’s Word.

Jewish kings were required to make a personal copy of the law in their own handwriting. They had to keep it on their person wherever they went. I’ve always found this fascinating. It’s something like having a nation’s president make a handwritten copy of the constitution and read it every day. So why did God require this of the kings? I think He knew it would force them to internalize it and personalize it. It also served as preventative medicine.

I don’t think you need to write out your own personal copy of Scripture, but let me offer one piece of advice that will help you personalize Scripture. Wherever you read the pronoun you, insert your name. It will help you take what you read more literally, more personally. It will also remind you that your life is a unique translation of Scripture. If people like what they read in your life, they might just want to pick up the Book that inspired your translation!

Reading without meditating is like eating without digesting.