The Source of Life
‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned’ John 15:5,6
Probably the single most important principle for continuing in our Christian life is the principle of ‘abiding.’ As I abide in Christ I continue to draw on the life of Christ. This principle is often called the ‘secret’ of a successful Christian life. What makes it a ‘secret’ is not that it’s hidden, but because too few Christians seem to follow it.
When someone first comes to Christ we tell them what they have to do next. “You have to read the Bible; you have to pray; you have to be part of a church; you have to tell others about your decision for Christ.”
These are all good things, but let me make a distinction here. We tell new Christians these things because we want them to grow in their Christian life. But what God is especially wanting is that they continue experiencing Christ’s life.
Does doing these things guarantee they will continue experiencing Christ’s life? If nothing else gets in the way, it should. But the source of the life is not in these activities, wonderful as they are. The source of the life is in Christ.
These activities are taps for Christ’s life. They are spiritual disciplines and are called in theology “means of grace.” They are things we can do to allow the grace of God to continue to flow into our lives.
Somewhere in there hopefully we find ourselves reading the Bible, praying, meeting with other Christians and witnessing, and most importantly, experiencing Christ’s life. That life doesn’t flow because we’re doing these things but if we were not doing them, the life of Christ would begin to dry up.
If it was a blisteringly hot day and you were working outside, you might go to the tap for a drink. Sometimes the first water to come out is warm and unpleasant. You don’t blame the tap for that. You let it run for a moment until the water coming out is cool and refreshing.
When people talk to you, what kind of water do you give them? Is it warm and undrinkable? Or is it cool and refreshing – the life of Christ?
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