“IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD!”

 John 8:31-38                              (ESV)

“31 So JESUS said to the Jews who had believed HIM, "IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD”, you are truly MY disciples,

32 and you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will set you free."

33 They answered HIM, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that YOU say, 'You will become free'?"

34 JESUS answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever.

36 So if the SON sets you free, you will be free indeed.

37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill ME because MY WORD finds no place in you.

38 I speak of what I have seen with MY FATHER, and you do what you have heard from your father."”

This account of JESUS speaking to the Jews who has believed HIM seemed to indicate that HE was speaking to HIS “followers”?  But JESUS knows our HEARTS and MINDS, as a matter of fact HE CREATED them, so HE KNEW  that they were seeking to kill HIM because MY WORD finds no place in them!  They were trying to tell JESUS where they were from and who they were, when they couldn’t SEE WHO HE is!  

Do I find myself in similar predicaments?  When my focus is on me instead of HIM, do I try to explain where I am instead of where HE is going to deliver me?  Why do I attempt to assist GOD in getting where only HE can take me?  Do I think HE needs my help when I SEE evidence of HIS HANDIWORK in every breath I am granted?

Has HIS WORD found a place in our lives, to mold us, to transform us, into the reflection of HIM that we are created to be?  Or do we become so caught up in assimilating to “this world”, to what society says is acceptable, that we neglect HIS wishes and PLAN for our lives?  These Jews ultimately wound up being responsible for having JESUS crucified (Matthew 27:25), all to fulfill THE PLAN OF SALVATION for everyone.  

Even though we find ourselves in spots that are very uncomfortable, we have to understand that we are NOT ALONE, that JESUS will NEVER leave us (Matthew 28:20)!  How can we KNOW that we are one of the CHOSEN?  Not by simply saying a prayer, or doing what a pastor, priest, or rabbi instructs us to do!  JESUS says “”IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD”, you are truly MY disciples, and you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will set you free."  “IF YOU ABIDE IN MY WORD”, not the societal norms from “this world”!