The Word of God is so rich, so full of illustrations and examples of our organic union with the Lord, and also it is so encouraging! This morning I especially enjoyed these three aspects concerning our relationship with the Lord:
- In John 15 we see that we are branches in Christ the vine – we abide in Him and we absorb all the rich sap coming from Him. The life-juice in Christ the vine is the all-inclusive supply for our Christian life and for bearing fruit! By absorbing all the rich nutrients and the sap in the vine, we grow, bear fruit, and fulfill God’s purpose!
- In Colossians 2 we see that Christ is the rich soil and we are rooted in Him – as plants rooted in Christ, we need to send down deep roots to absorb all the rich nutrients in the soil, so that we may grow! When we absorb all that this all-inclusive and extensive Christ has to offer, we grow in life and we also become the building of God.
- In Colossians 2 at the end we see that we are holding the Head, Christ, out from whom all the Body gets its growth – we grow with the growth of God by holding Christ as our Head. As we hold Christ as the Head, there’s an element – the element of God – that is being dispensed into our whole being, and this element causes the growth in us!
The principle in all these three illustrations is the same – we need to absorb Christ’s riches into us. As branches, we absorb the life juice from the vine; as plants, we absorb the riches from the soil, and as members of the Body of Christ, we absorb the nourishing element from the Head. When we absorb this rich Christ, the riches coming from the soil, and the element from the Head, we grow as the Body – with the growth of God (Col. 2:19)!
How does God give us the growth? He gives the growth by giving us more of Himself, by dispensing more of His element into us as we spend time with Him to absorb Him! The secret / the key that makes this all happen is our willingness to set aside adequate time every day to absorb God. Just like we set aside regular time to eat and drink, so we need to set aside some time to enjoy the Lord and to absorb Him.
Don’t rush your time with the Lord – take time to absorb Him, enjoy Him, and dig into His Word. Just like with eating physical food, if we’re in a rush, there may be “indigestion” or complications – the food is not so tasty or nourishing. But if we spend adequate time to pray over the Word, to muse over God’s speaking, and to pray it back to God, we will absorb more of the riches of our God!
We need to see that we have been already rooted into Christ as the rich soil. This is so encouraging and so comforting – we are rooted in Christ, and now all we need to do is spend time every day to absorb Him… Start in the morning – not just 10 minutes, but even 30 minutes, enjoy the Lord at the start of the day! If you have a “solid spiritual breakfast” of Christ every morning, you will not be bothered by anything negative during the day.
Learn to turn away from your thoughts, your emotions, your intentions, and any other things, and just open to the Lord by exercising your spirit in prayer to Him… You may even say something like,
O Lord Jesus, I love You, I worship You, and I adore You. Lord, I give myself to You – I give You my heart and everything concerning this day!
If you open in such a way, the Lord will be so rich to you. If you don’t hurry when you spend time to absorb the Lord, His riches will be dispensed and constituted into you again and again… This supply of life coming into you from God will constitute you and make you a person that is for the fufillment of God’s purpose. You will not have to struggle and strive, but rather it is spontaneous to enjoy the Lord and express Him!
[enjoyment from Col. 2, John 15, and the Life-study of Colossians]
Lord, make us such enjoyers of You! We want to spend time to absorb You! Save us from rushing our time with You! We don’t want to have a “fast-food Jesus” – no, we want to take time to absorb Your riches every day! Save our mornings, Lord, and save our days again and again! Keep us absorbing You, abiding in You, and holding You as the Head!
