Abide In Me, And I In You

"Abide in me, and I in you" (John 15:4). The first definition of abide is to accept or act in accordance with a rule, decision or determination, as in the phrase, we will abide by the court's decision. When we abide in the Lord, we strive to accept His will and to act in accordance with His loving guidance. And when the Lord abides in us, He promises to take us as we are and meet us where we are at and to accept and act in accordance with our faith and righteous desires. The second definition of abide is to be able to tolerate someone or something, as in the phrase, I can't abide anchovies on my pizza. When we abide in the Lord, we are committed to tolerating and enduring the trials that He sees fit to inflict upon us, and we are trusting that He is wise enough and loves us enough to suffer us to go through these challenges and that there is no other way for us to learn and grow. When the Lord abides in us, He is committed to tolerating our near constant flow of mistakes and rebellions and patiently urging and pleading for us to repent and return to Him. The third definition of abide is of a feeling or memory to continue without fading or being lost. When we abide in the Lord, we covenant to always remember Him and to never let Him fade from our minds and hearts. When the Lord abides in us, He covenants to always remember us, to never lose sight of or cease to care about us, even if sometimes it feels like He has forsaken us, it simply is not true. The final definition of abide is to live or dwell. We live in Christ and He lives in us. I know that as we accept and act according to and tolerate and always remember and live and abide in Christ, then He will accept and act according to and tolerate and always remember and live and abide in us.