Stick Around

"Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. " - John 15:4-5

It's interesting that, in these two verses, Jesus uses the word "remain" five times... so it must be important that we understand what Jesus is trying to tell us. He's asking us to "remain in him", but I don't think he's just asking the disciples to stick around. Rather, Jesus is subtly reminding us that he won't be on earth forever - and that it's us that need to carry on his work. For us to truly "remain in him", we must continue to exist while keeping him close to us - while spreading the good news to others. And for the thousands of years after he walked with us, we've done our best.

Certainly we've had our ups and downs, certainly there's been folks who have used his name to advance their own agendas, but the core of who Jesus was, what he did, and his message for us has stood the test of time. He has remained with us, and is with us always.

So he's done his part. And now it's up to us to decide - will we remain in him?