“Abide in the vine.” Be continually aware of the living Jesus. Stay consciously connected to Him.

A part-time awareness of Jesus (on again, off again) falls far short of His command to “Abide in Me.” It’s easy to sit in church and not have a clue that Jesus is alive, powerful, and active in the world today.

“I am with you always.” Christians should never be unaware of being connected to the living, resurrected Jesus.

Jesus said: “I am the light of the world.” To be unaware of light, even for a moment, you have to close your eyes.

“Behold the Lamb of God.” This isn’t intended to be a momentary experience, but a lifestyle of continually focusing on Jesus.

“Looking unto Jesus,” is not about a quick glance, but a captivating gaze that lasts a lifetime. Contemporary, Western Christianity focuses far too much on self-awareness and far too little on Jesus-awareness.

Jesus doesn’t ask you to spend some of your time with Him (a daily “quiet time”). He calls for all of your time.

Jesus doesn’t just give us words and clues about how to follow Him. He offers us His continual presence. He comes to lead us Himself

To follow a guide, you have to stay conscious of his presence. You can’t follow Jesus if you’re unaware of that He’s with you. Until Christians become continually aware of the presence of the living Jesus, we’ll never be very good at abiding in Him.

The Bible shows that God isn’t hiding from us but we’re hiding from Him. Jesus invites us out of hiding, to hang with Him on His vine 24/7/365.