The Art of Abiding

God has been showing me what it means to truly abide in Him lately. That is going to be my lesson this year…and I’m ok with that.

Today I did some "abiding in Christ" at lunch at a small lake near where I work. Something about being near water.....I just love it. I can just feel peace settle over me.......good times. Anyway, it was a great lesson in abiding in the Word. The verse for this chapter is Job 23:12, "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Wow.........I had to stop right there. I was immediately convicted b/c I don't very often treasure His word. And I can't treasure His word apart from reading it. Which is the key to abiding. My desire is to so saturate my life with the word of God. John 8:31 says, “If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.” Someone once said that “The Word of God will stand a thousand readings and he who has gone over it most frequently is the surest of finding new wonders there.” I want to find new wonders!! I want to love simply to read the Bible – without the pressure of answering questions, just to relax and enjoy the content of the Scriptures. Then I can say with Jeremiah, “When I discovered your words I devoured them, they became for me a joy and the delight of my heart….” (Jeremiah 15:16) The devotional ended with this quote from R. A. Torrey, “We must study His words, fairly devour His words, let them sink into our thought and into our heart, keep them in our memory, obey them constantly in our life, let them shape and mold our daily life and our every act. This is really the method of abiding in Christ. It is through His words that Jesus imparts Himself to us.” Wow……..that is the cry of my heart……