Weekday Devotion With Pastor Chris

Old radios used to have a dial that you would turn to move the needle across the various frequencies.  There was an art to it.  If you knew your favorite station was around a specific point, you would move the needle to the approximate location and then make slight adjustments back and forth until you had the strongest signal.  Fancy radios even had two dials:  one for the broad movement across the frequencies, and then another to fine tune the radio to that precise point where the signal was clearest.

     People today will sometimes talk about band-width as in “I don’t have the band-width for that.”  It is a reference to where we are strongest and operating out of our gifts.  It can refer to our level of energy, or to what we know and are comfortable with, or it can refer to a specific talent.  I can honestly say that with our need now to record and upload videos, or to live-stream our services on the internet I am absolutely outside my bandwidth.  I’m so grateful that we have some people on staff who understand it all and can help guide us through it.

     But getting back to the radio, I’ve always felt that there was a parallel in our walk with God.  When Jesus says, “Abide in me as I abide in you,” I know he is talking about a vine, but for me it is a bit like those radio frequencies.  So I’m mixing the metaphor.  In my mind abiding in Jesus means doing everything I can to open my life to those life-giving, fruit-bearing forces that flow from him.  I want to hit the precise frequency where there is no static, no interference; that space where Jesus’ presence, power and guidance can freely flow into my life.

     How do we do that?  It is all about staying connected. When we sin, we move off center.  When we repent, we make our way back.   The value of such spiritual disciplines as prayer, study, generosity, worship and service is that they can help us stay centered.  They help keep us in that space where Christ’s Spirit is moving in us and through us and shaping our lives according to God’s good purposes.

     We are not talking, then, about earning God’s favor by hitting the right frequency.  God already favors us, and nothing we do or don’t do is going to change that.  What we are talking about, rather, is the very quality of our lives.  If we want the best and richest kind of life – the life that bears much fruit – there is just one place to turn: Jesus.  Find that right frequency, stay on it, and so abide in that space where Christ is present through our obedience and our love.

“If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:10)