Remaining
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:9-11
INSIGHT
How do we remain in God’s love? How do we keep our priorities in order when it feels like we are always at capacity? School demands our attention; work demands our attention; our kids require our attention, our spouse, our friends, and the list goes on and on. We cannot remain in His love without intentionally making space to stay still.
When I began walking with God several years ago, I remember trying as hard as I could to spend time with God. I would set alarms on my phone, plan to get up early, and even bought special pens to journal really well. The truth was, though, I spent my days scrambling to figure out how to remain in His love. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be connected; it just always seemed to be something I planned to do but could never find the time.
Several years and several kids later, remaining in His love has become the breath of fresh air I desperately wanted when I first started walking with God. My schedule didn’t get less busy; the change was that I stopped trying to check the boxes perfectly and instead rested in His grace and love. I stopped memorizing scripture just to mark off that box. I stopped striving to appear like I had it all together and instead embraced that God was still working.
For me, remaining meant letting go of the things around me that I wanted to go perfectly and looking up to focus my heart on God. I don’t do a quiet time because I’m supposed to; I do it because I will only find fulfillment and peace when connected to my Lord and Savior.
When we remain in His love and set our eyes to gaze upon Him, the struggles and the to-do list around us fade as He fills us with an unshakable joy. Our joy will only be made complete when we are connected and rooted in Him.
REFLECTION
Where do you need to remain in His love? What would it look like to do so in this situation?
PRAYER
God, thank you for the joy found in You. Thank you for creating us to rest in Your love. I know that all the achievements and goals I could ever achieve will never be sufficient without Your love. Help me to remain in You, so that my joy may be complete. Amen.
Katie Robinson, Treasure Island Curriculum Coordinator, wrote today’s devotional.
