WE SAW YESTERDAY that the relationship between the Vine and the branches is the relationship of self-surrender—you abide in Him before He abides in you. But the moment you begin to abide in Him by self-surrender, that moment He begins to abide in you.
The term “self-surrender” needs to be supplemented if it is to express this relationship. Self-surrender is once and for all, like a good marriage. It doesn’t have to be done over again each day—it is once and for all and forever. Yet while it is once and for all, it is continuous. You give your all once and for all, and yet there are little alls of self-surrender wrapped up in that big once-and-for-all surrender. These little alls have to be surrendered daily. So it is once and for all and yet continuous. The continuous part is expressed in these words: “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). So the relationship is surrender plus abiding. You don’t plug into Jesus to get His light and power as needed and then plug out again. That is the attitude of many—they plug into Jesus once on Sunday and get their batteries recharged, and the rest of the week they are on their own. No, this is a continuous relationship—a life committal and a lifelong committal—you abide in Him. You are not in and out of Christ—you are in forever. You may cloud the relationship by a momentary slip, stumble, or even fall. But if you confess it immediately, the relationship is unbroken. It was clouded, but not broken. The only way to break it is by continuous, deliberate, willful sinning.
To abide in Him is to surrender all you know and all you don’t know. You give up all you know and if anything comes up you do not know, then that belongs to Him too. “His” is written across the known and unknown. There are no reservations in anything, at anytime, anywhere.
My Lord, Thou art Lord. Full stop. I have no ifs or buts left over—this is all, all the time, in all places. I’m bound to Thee unreservedly. And yet how free! I abide in Thee and yet I walk the earth free—free to the degree that I abide. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: The once-and-for-all surrender to Christ is not a matter of debate or question, but only the daily application to matters that arise.
