What it means to “Be”
A Church For The City Devotional
READINGS: John 3:3-8, 21, 2 Pet 1:3-11, John 15:1-10
Too many times I get busy and start going through the motions of being a Christ follower and neglect to pay attention to my relationship with Him. I start living my Christian life on “duty mode” where I read my Psalm and Proverb a day during my “quiet time”, say a blessing over meals, and away I go. I have become a “doer of Christian things.”
Merriam Webster dictionary says the English word “be” is akin to “Greek phynai to be born, be by nature, phyein to produce 1 ”. When Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:7 “…you must be born again” He was indicating a process that would occur without his efforts. Later in John, Jesus tells his disciples that they are branches and He is the vine. Any fruit produced on the branch comes from the vine. A branch cut off doesn’t produce fruit, and any fruit already there withers.
Our call is to “Be”, to remain firmly attached to the vine, to receive before we can give, to “Be” a child of God, which simply requires faith and a continuing relationship with the Creator of the universe. If we are to “do” anything for God, it MUST come from our relationship with Him.
He is the Giver of Light, Life, Power, Gifts, and all things for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). He produces the fruit, we must abide (Be) in Him. Let us “Be” the branch by gaining more knowledge of Him and letting Him work through us because of our connection to Him. Our works, as John says, “have been carried out in God”.
PRAYER:
Lord, Thank You for the great and amazing gift of justification where I am made right before Your face and can boldly stand in Your Presence without condemnation. Thank You that you have loved me so much that You desire a close relationship with me where I can learn of You and receive Life from You. I am sorry for my lack of discipline in pursuing You and the fulness of grace You have for me. Help me to be a receiver of your Presence and power for an abundant life, so that I may accomplish the great things you have prepared for me by relying totally on Your Spirit and not on my miniscule capabilities. May I be ever sensitive to Your leading and guiding and stay firmly connected to the Vine for my growth and production of the only fruit that will remain. Reveal Yourself to me in an ever-greater measure that I may grow in maturity and knowledge of Your ways.
In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
