Come Abide

I've been going through the daily devotional book My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers for the past couple of months. I really like it because each devotion is very short and direct and gives me something to "chew" on for the rest of the day. It was written in the early 1900s, but is still so relevant and fresh; and Chambers doesn't mince words - he tells it like it is! I was particularly struck by this morning's reading (you can read it here -  and actually, the whole text is available online!) which talks about abiding in Christ. I love the word abide, especially in the context of abiding with the Lord; it just rings of peace and comfort! It means "to remain stable or fixed in a state" or "to continue in a place". As believers we are called to abide with Christ at all times and in everything ('Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.' John 15:4 NASB) but it can be easy to compartmentalize our lives and withhold certain aspects from the Lord; to choose not to abide in Him in that area. Chambers reiterates that we have to make every area of our lives captive to Christ and abide in Him in money matters, family matters, whatever it may be! He talks about how "amazingly relaxed" Jesus' life must have been because he abided in the Father in everything - which meant he never had to worry; it was all taken care of! I love that! How stress-free life would be if we willingly chose to abide in all things! This was a much-needed reminder to me this morning as I woke up already worried, with a million thoughts in my head. So today I'm making the choice to abide in the Lord over that previously worrisome matter... I'm encouraged by what Chambers said: "In the intital stages it will be a continual effort to abide, but as you continue, it will become so much a part of your life that you will abide in Him without any conscious effort."