Jump Start # 2357

John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.”

Memorial Day found me out trimming shrubs. I have a lot of shrubs. A lot. Usually, I spread this job out over several evenings. I decided this time to do all of them at one time. Stay at it and get the job done. It was hot and humid. Thanks to my wife for helping because I don’t think I could have finished on my own.

Here is something I found, other than I’m getting old and I don’t have the get up and go like I once did. I cut some branches off a cherry tree. I decided to do all the trimming and then come back and pick up all cuttings. It was about three hours later when I came around to those cherry branches. They were wilted and looking bad. It didn’t take very long. The sun, heat and being cut off, was all it took. And, that took me to our verse today. Cut off from Jesus, one withers spiritually. And, like those branches, it really doesn’t take very long before a person to lose all sense of Jesus in their life.

This is more than a person stops coming to worship. There are things that happened before that. Typically, the downward descent begins with a dying spiritual heart. Prayers stop. There is no reading of God’s word. But, that’s not all. The thinking becomes selfish, secular, and worldly. Bad attitudes return. Forgiveness goes. The spirit of a servant, which God wants all of us to have, dies. Sometimes, the bad habits that one left when they became a Christian returns. And, in a very short time, one would never know that this person was ever a Christian. There is no interest in worshipping God. There is no desire to be around God’s people.

Just like my cut off branches, the heart of this person dies spiritually. The person finds more attraction in the fleeting things of the world. People of the world impress him now. Status. Popularity, The latest shows on TV. Office gossip and flirting. All of these find a home in a heart that no longer loves the Lord. And, there is no foundation to such a life. Oh, things are good as long as things are good. Job, health, money—things seem pretty good. The new person of the world feels like he’s got the world by the tail. Free, like that prodigal, to do whatever he wants. No rules, but his rules. He might even walk away from his marriage, if he feels like it. Nothing is holding him back. He’s like a balloon flying freeing in the sky. It’s likely to go anywhere.

Family and brethren try to appeal to a heart that is now calloused, closed and indifferent to the Lord. There’s no coming back for this person. He’s on top of the world. He’s free. He pities those poor souls who still worship weekly. What a sad life he believes they are living.

There have been many folks who have followed this path. Just like my cut off branch, they have died spiritually. In a very short time, they lose all that they had. Their weakness has kept them from really getting the true picture of Christianity. They never really grew. They don’t know. And, now, they are likely to believe anything and everything. The one thing they are certain about is that they are not going back. Their experience wasn’t positive in their eyes. They have nothing but complaints and finger pointing.

When we no longer abide in the Lord, our hearts become dark. Worry and fear fills the air. Instead of developing the best character, we return to the worst character. The Lord brings out the best in us. The Lord changes our nature. When we walk with the Lord, forgiveness, grace, and, kindness are daily attributes in our lives. With the Lord, we resemble Him. With the Lord, goodness abounds. With the Lord, contentment, peace and hope belong to us. With the Lord, Heaven is going to be our home.

Why do some leave? Why do some no longer abide in the Lord? There are many reasons. Some still have a taste of the world in her mouths. Some have never crucified the old man. They have kept him alive. Some never grew. Some were disillusioned. They thought becoming a Christian meant everything was going to be sunny and perfect from here on out. It’s not. It wasn’t for the apostles. It won’t be for us. There are valleys. There are shadows. There are storms. There are famines. There are lion’s dens and giants that come into our lives. Some don’t understand this. So they leave. They are cut off. They wither. They die.

Our passage ends with the sobering reality of what happens when one is not abiding in the Lord. They are gathered up with others and tossed into the fire. Folks don’t want to talk about these things today. They only want a God who has Heaven. They want Hell to go away. They want God to love, and not have any justice or wrath. They want everyday to be a happy day.

The words of our verse come from Jesus. Abide or be cut off. There is no other options. There is no following at a distance. There is no fair weather Christians. There is no see you at Christmas and Easter. All in, or not in at all. The commitment to the Lord is total. We are to love the Lord with ALL of our heart, mind and soul.

How do I abide in the Lord? Follow Him. Trust Him. Read His word. Obey Him. Worship Him as He directs. Change your ways. Change your thinking. Change your heart. It’ll make you a better person. People around you that are good and decent will appreciate it. God will see it. And, it will show. You’ll start bearing spiritual fruit. You’ll be kind. You’ll be helpful. You’ll think less of self and more of others.

Abide—it’s a choice. It’s a choice that we make every day.

Roger

Jump Start # 2185

John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned up.”

A neighbor cut down a persimmon tree the other day. He started by cutting off many of the branches and then he cut the tree down. The branches were left in the yard and the trunk of the tree was cut up and hauled away. Very quickly, just a couple of days after all of this was done, the branches dried up, the leaves turned brown and it looked as if those branches had been on the ground for a year. It didn’t take long for all life to leave those branches, once they were cut off from the tree.

This is what Jesus is illustrating in our verse. Rather than persimmon branches, he probably meant olive tree branches or the branches from a grape vine. Cut off from the source of life, they lose all life and they wither and die, quickly and immediately.

The same happens spiritually to a person who walks away from Jesus. It doesn’t take long for the sins to start multiplying, and all spiritual life withers and they die spiritually. Things that they once opposed, they now embrace without any shame, guilt or regret. They don’t fight temptation. They welcome it. And, a life of carefulness turns into carelessness. The attitude sours. The language becomes offensive. The dress more risqué and immodest. And, worse of all, to soothe any remaining guilt, the heart turns against Christ and His people. Everything that brethren ever did that was wrong is highlighted and brought to the front. The good is forgotten. And, the dying branch makes statements that were never said before, such as, “I always thought worship was boring.” Or, “I never did agree with some of the things that they said.”

And, the branch dies. My neighbor will be gathering up his dead branches and toss them away. For Jesus, the dead branches, are souls and lives that no longer care about the Lord. They are dead, even though they continue to live. Their future is bleak. While they laugh through this life, having the time of their lives, they are heading down a dead end street. The future for them includes the fire of punishment. So tragic, it didn’t have to be this way.

Why, we ask. Why would anyone leave Jesus? Why would they walk away from forgiveness, grace, hope, and Heaven for the trinklets that Satan offers today? It’s hard to understand. It doesn’t make sense. And, it’s harder still to get some to see what they have done and to come back. In the natural world, a cut off branch dies and that’s it. It’s a one way street. Biblically, a person can become reattached to Jesus. They can be forgiven and life can again spread throughout their soul. It’s not fatal, until a person no longer has life in their body.

Some leave because the pull of sin is so strong. The call of the far country is constantly calling them. Some have never fully left the world of sin. They have kept one foot in there. Their friends, their choices have been a constant pull back to the world. And, so, they go, returning to the life that they left.

For others, they get discouraged. Someone in the church hurt them or disappointed them. I know a senior citizen who has been a Christian for close to seventy years. She is now in assisted living but comes out to worship when she can. She must carry oxygen with her. One Sunday she came, carrying her oxygen. A off-handed comment was made about how loud the oxygen tank was. That hurt her. Rather than praising her for coming and pointing out what an example she was, someone had to say something stupid and wrong. It was inappropriate. This older Christian must have her oxygen. She feels now as if she ought to stay home. Discouraged because of what others say, is why some quit. We love to tell others what they ought to do, while we give ourselves a pass and sit back and point the judgmental radar gun at folks.

Some never started right. This is what the parable of the sower tells us. Some seed started, but was chocked out by the worries, riches and pleasures of this life. Some started and the sun scorched the tiny plant and it died. No roots. Little growth. Young faith. Some as quickly as they come to Christ, they leave Christ. They were disillusioned. They thought coming to Christ would solve every problem, find them a job, get them a mate, and end all of their worries. But troubles remained. Problems at home. Problems with health. Problems at work. Becoming a Christian didn’t magically evaporate all of those problems. Their expectations weren’t met and so, they left, sad and disappointed.

There are many reasons why some leave, but the results are the same. A branch is cut off. That branch withers and dies. It doesn’t do well without Christ. And, it doesn’t take very long at all, until a person would never recognize that they were once a Christian. All signs of Christ are gone. Bitter. Sinful. Selfish. Proud. Angry. But under the surface, lost, filled with worry, uncertain and fearful of death. Life without Christ is really no life. Paul told the Romans that the wages of sin is death. It’s turning the lights out on the soul. It’s welcoming back misery, unhappiness and a life without purpose, direction or benefit to others.

I understand why my neighbor cut off the branches. The tree was coming down. I do not understand why a person leaves the Lord. Jesus has never mistreated us. Jesus has always been kind to us. In Christ, we walk with hope, assurance and answers. Worry and fear flee when we stand close to Christ. Hope soars and our character, our attitude and our outlook all become brighter and better.

Getting cut off of Christ is our choice. God won’t do it. Others can’t do it. We can saw our own limb off of Christ or we can continue to receive life, nourishments, and purpose through Christ.

Without Christ, there is no life, there is no future and there is no purpose. Work through your questions. Get beyond those things that bother you. Put the saw away. You don’t want to be cut off of the Lord.

It’s great being a Christian. There is no other life.

Roger