The Spirit of Jesus has been put into me by the atonement. Now I must begin to construct, with patience and determination, a way of thinking that is exactly in line with my Lord’s. God will not make me think like Jesus; I have to do it myself, bringing every thought into captivity for him. “Remain in me” means to abide in Jesus in intellectual matters, in money matters—in everything that makes human life what it is.
Am I preventing God from making changes to my circumstances because I think it will disrupt my communion with him? If so, I’m being impertinent. I don’t need to carefully guard my schedule in order to spend time alone with God; I need to learn to abide in Jesus no matter the circumstance. It’s as easy to commune in a kitchen as it is in a prayer meeting.
Our Lord had an inner abiding that was never disturbed. He was at home with God wherever he found himself. He never chose his own circumstances but was obedient to his Father’s choices for him. Think of the amazing openness and acceptance with which our Lord met the events of his life! We come to the Father in a state of high excitement and anxiety, with none of the serenity of the life that is hid with Christ in God.
Consider the things that take you out of Christ. Are you always promising to start abiding in him later—once this or that crisis is resolved, once this or that task is completed? Get a move on! Begin to abide now. In the early stages, abiding requires continual effort, but eventually it becomes an unconscious habit. Decide to abide in Jesus now, wherever you are placed.
