If you’ve heard and responded to the call, “Come to Me,” here’s a new invitation for you: “Abide in Me.” It comes from the same loving Savior. You’ve never regretted answering His call. You’ve seen that His word is true, that He keeps every promise, and that He shares His love and joy with you. Wasn’t His welcome warm? His forgiveness complete and free? His love sweet and precious? When you first came to Him, you may have thought, “I didn’t even realize half of this!”

You’ve probably felt disappointed at times. As the years went by, the experience you hoped for didn’t fully happen. The blessings you once enjoyed faded. The love and joy you felt when you first met your Savior didn’t grow deeper—it became weaker. And you’ve often wondered why, with such a loving and powerful Savior, your experience of His salvation hasn’t been fuller.

The answer is simple: you drifted away from Him. Every blessing He gives is connected to His invitation, “Come to Me,” and can only be enjoyed by staying close to Him. You may not have understood—or you may have forgotten—that His call meant, “Come to Me and stay with Me.” That was His purpose from the beginning when He first drew you to Himself. He didn’t bring you into His love just to refresh you for a short time and then leave you to struggle again. He intended something far better than a brief season of joy that comes and goes when you feel especially earnest or prayerful. He prepared a place for you to live continually with Him—day in and day out—so that your whole life, every moment of it, could be lived in His presence. He meant for you to do your daily work with Him right there beside you, enjoying an unbroken relationship with Him. That’s what He meant when He added to “Come to Me” the words “Abide in Me.”

 

The same love, faithfulness, and tenderness that spoke “Come to Me” also spoke “Abide in Me.” The same power that drew you with His first call would have held you close if you had listened to the second. And the blessings He gave when you came are nothing compared to the greater treasures He offers when you stay.

 

Notice this especially: He didn’t say, “Abide with Me.” He said, “Abide in Me.” The relationship He offers is not only constant—it is intimate and complete. He opened His arms to draw you close. He opened His heart to welcome you in. He opened the fullness of His divine life and love, inviting you into its fellowship, offering to make you one with Himself. There is a depth in His words, “Abide in Me,” that is more than we can yet grasp.

And He pleaded just as earnestly for you to abide in Him as He once called you to come to Him. Every reason that moved you to come in the first place is now urging you, even more strongly, to remain.

Did fear of sin and judgment bring you to Him? The forgiveness He gave you—and every blessing that flows from it—can only be fully enjoyed by abiding in Him.

Did a longing for His infinite love draw you? Your first coming, let you taste a few drops of that love, but only abiding in Him can satisfy your thirsty heart with rivers of His pleasure.

Were you longing to be free from sin and to find rest for your soul? That too is only possible as you remain in Him. Abiding in Jesus is the only place of rest.

Or was it the hope of heaven and eternal life with Him? The real preparation for that, as well as the foretaste of its joy in this life, is given only to those who abide in Him.

 

In truth, everything that once moved you to come to Him now pleads even more strongly: Abide in Him. Coming was good; abiding is better. Who would come to the door of a king’s palace and be content to stand outside, when the king invites them to come inside and live with Him? Let us enter in and stay. Let us enjoy everything His love has prepared for us.

 

And yet, I fear that many who have truly come to Jesus still have to admit that they know little of this blessed abiding. Some never really understood that this is what Jesus meant when He called them. Others heard the words but didn’t realize such a life of continual fellowship was possible. Others believed it was possible and even sought it, but feel they have never found the “secret” of how to live it. And others—sadly—must confess that their own unfaithfulness has kept them from the blessing. When the Savior wanted to hold them close, they were not willing to stay. They were not ready to give up everything and simply, continually, wholly abide in Jesus.

 

To all such people I come, in the name of Jesus—your Redeemer and mine—with this blessed message: “Abide in Me.” In His name I invite you to join me in taking time each day to think about what this means—its lessons, its claims, and its promises. I know many questions arise, especially for young believers, and they can feel hard. One big question is about whether it’s even possible to remain in fellowship with Him in the middle of busy work, distractions, and the pressures of everyday life. I cannot remove these difficulties; only Jesus Himself, by His Holy Spirit, can do that. But by God’s grace, I want to keep repeating the Master’s gentle command, “Abide in Me,” until it settles deep into our hearts, never to be forgotten again.

 

I want us, with the help of Scripture, to meditate on its meaning until our understanding opens—like a door to the heart—and we begin to see what He offers and what He asks. In time we will discover how to abide, what keeps us from it, and what helps us move into it. We will feel the weight and beauty of His call and realize that we cannot truly follow our King unless we fully accept this command as well. And as we look at the blessing of abiding in Him, our desire will grow, and our will and strength will rise to seek and claim this priceless gift.

 

So come, my brothers and sisters. Day by day, let us sit at His feet and focus on this word of His, with our eyes fixed on Him alone. Let us quietly wait before Him, ready to hear His gentle voice—the still, small voice that is stronger than the storm that breaks the rocks—breathing His life into us as He says, “Abide in Me.” The soul that truly hears Jesus speak this word receives, along with the word itself, the power to accept and hold the blessing He gives.

 

And may You, blessed Savior, truly speak to us. Let each of us hear Your voice. May our deep need, our faith in Your love, and the sight of the wonderful life You long to give us, move us to listen and obey every time You say, “Abide in Me.” And may our hearts answer, more clearly each day, “Blessed Savior, I choose to abide in You.”