Our Busy World

JOHN MANIATTY

“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

In our busy world, which prides itself on its energy, activity, and productivity, it is so easy to miss the most precious and most important part of life—intimately knowing and loving our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. God purposefully sent Jesus, His Son, into the world to redeem mankind from its sin and separation from a holy God, a God who created man for His pleasure and His purposes. Jesus’ death upon the cross at Calvary opened the door for us to once again know our heavenly Father and His love for us, if we believe that He died for our sins, and that through His shed blood we are made righteous. Even when in faith we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and are born again, we can still miss the fulness of His life for us if we are too preoccupied with the things of this world.

Jesus said that if we were to produce much fruit; fruit that would be 
eternal, we had to abide in Him. Abiding in Him means that our whole life is centered in His will, that everything we do is because His Spirit and His Word instructs us to do it. This is not an automatic going about life as usual, but purposefully seeking Him and His will. The encounter that Jesus had with Martha and Mary, recorded in Luke 10:38-42, reveals that even in Jesus’ presence we can be distracted from Him by being “worried and bothered about so many things,” as Martha was. Mary, on the other hand, chose to fix her full attention on Jesus, listening to Him and what He was saying, and Jesus declared that she had chosen the good part, the one necessary thing in life, which would not be taken away from her. She was abiding in His presence, and the result was a deep knowing of Him that was changing her forever.

We too have the same choice daily. Do we abide in Jesus’ presence throughout the course of our day, or are we distracted by the worries and bothers of this world? Jesus tells us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things that the world so clamors for will be taken care of for us by our Heavenly Father, because He loves us (Matthew 6:33). He did not mean that we should not work, or should not have recreation, nor times of intimate relationship with others, but that we should walk together with Him in all these things of life, and allow Him to guide us and teach us. Let us be people who give Jesus first place in everything by abiding in Him, for He alone is worthy of our devotion (see Colossians 1:18)!

agape,
---john