⁴ Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
                      John 15:4(ESV)
 
 
This powerful word, abide, was brought back to my mind this week.  It’s not a word we use often in our everyday conversations, but it is a powerful word that will challenge us to stay connected.  But here’s the pressing question, “What are we connected to?”
 
A few years ago Marea and I were finishing a renovation of a kitchen.  We had taken out the oven and we had decided to replace it with a nice coffee nook.  We needed an outlet there in order to plug in our grinder and our electric water kettle, but then we would be set!
 
The electrician got our outlet in and we plugged in our grinder.  It whirred faster and faster and then everything just stopped.  He hadn’t changed the plug from 220 to 110.  The grinder couldn’t take it and shut down.
 
The figurative language of John paints a vivid picture of what it looks like to abide.  Abide means to stay, to remain.  Abide means I’m not going anywhere and I will remain connected to You.  Jesus says, “I am the Vine and you can’t bear fruit unless you are connected to Me.”  But, here’s the thing I keep thinking about.  If we are connected to a vine, any vine, we may produce fruit… but is it the type of fruit we should be producing?
 
Back to our story.  The outlet was connected to something but it was too much for our little coffee nook to handle.  In the end, the grinder met it’s untimely demise all because it wasn’t connected to the correct power.
 
What power are you connected to right now?  Does social media get you amped up until you can’t see straight?  Me too.  Sometimes I have to step back, go for a run, and listen to some Jesus music to stay attached to the Vine.  Do you watch the news until you are so worried about what the future will look like?  And, in worrying about the future, you stop looking for ways to connect in the here and now?  That’s me as well… it’s easy for me to be worried about what others might think and to yearn for yesterday (that’s alliteration, folks), but if I stay too much in the future or the past I forget to be present in the present.  I have to make time for God in order to stay connected to the Vine.
 
No one has this all figured out here on earth.  If they say they do they are fooling themselves.  Ask yourself these honest questions and then make changes in order to be (and stay) connected to Jesus Christ…
 
What am I connected to?
What fruit am I producing?
 
Can’t wait to worship with you this weekend!
We are Central… and we’re in this TOGETHER! 
SOLI DEO GLORIA
-F