Abiding Traits

I know I want to abide in God, to have a peace that comes from resting in the company and security of God. I need more than circumstantial happiness though. Nor do I want that glassy-eyed, cliche "God is good all the time" spirituality when life really sucks. I want something rooted deep. I want to abide, anchored to the bottom of the ocean of God's love when the hurricanes of life blow their winds around me and toss everyone else about.

I know what the traits of an abider are, how he or she looks, but I am not always sure of how to get there. Abiding seems so passive. Who will teach me how to abide? First John 2 has so much to say of abiding. Today, the apostle John is my teacher.

1 John 2:6. "Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way he walked." The abider lives as Jesus lives. He or she moves at the pace of Jesus and goes to the places which Jesus would frequent. Where would Jesus go? And how fast -- or slow -- does Jesus walk?

1 John 2:10. "Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling." The abider walks in the light. He or she evidences it by loving his brothers and sisters -- not just Christ-followers, either, but all of humanity. The abider has no reason to stumble. In fact, if I'm constantly stumbling, tripping over myself and my surroundings, I don't believe I am abiding. Abiding doesn't mean life is easy, but it is less complicated because I live for an audience of One and he is my guide. Who in my circle would Jesus love?

1 John 2:17. "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." The abider abides forever, while the one who goes it alone or in the company of the world will waste away, atrophy, erode, and vanish or perish. I hate that wasting-away feeling. Abiding is the surest remedy for it. The abider also invests in things and desires that outlive him or her so that he or she abide forever along with our eternal endeavors attempted for the glory of God. What or who would Jesus invest in?

1 John 2:24. "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." The abider abides in the word heard from the beginning -- the simple, received with faith-like-a-child, saving Gospel -- and it abides in him. The abider doesn't have to reinvent, rewrite, complicate, or question Jesus, the Bible, the faith, the Gospel, the church, or the friendship we have with God in Christ. In fact, when I constantly doubt or question, whittling away what I know deep down to be true, I am doing the exact opposite of abiding. What would Jesus keep simple? What would Jesus accept as bedrock truth?

1 John 2:27. "But the anointing that you received from Christ abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie -- just as it has taught you, abide in him." The abider is consumed with continuing to abide in God and have God abide in him or her. He doesn't need all the truths of the world, but he craves the wisdom of heaven. Though he can find truth in the world's wisdom, he knows it is, simultaneously, authored by and yet a poor reflection of God's timeless Truth. How much intimacy with the Father would Jesus strive for? What would Jesus teach me?

1 John 2:28. "And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." The abider lives confidently before God. He or she has nothing to hide. Though he or she sins, God is forgiving and Jesus is our advocate and redeemer (1 John 2:1). And sin is now a choice, a stepping down to live like the old man since the abider knows that Christ made us altogether new. The abider is unashamed. How high would Jesus hold his head before the Father? How high would he have me hold mine?