What if you woke up tomorrow and it was not guaranteed that your lungs would remove oxygen from the air and infuse it into your bloodstream?  You can actually do an experiment right now to see what it would be like.  Hold your breath.  For as long as you can, stop breathing.  Despite how crucial is the capillary action of our lungs, it is so commonplace we take it for granted.

Our union with Christ is absolutely crucial, but sometimes it has become so commonplace we take it for granted.  No experiment exists to help us envision what it is like to not be in union with him— to be branches securely connected to the vine.  But imagine if you can not being able to pray.  Imagine not having the constant presence of the Holy Spirit.  Imagine not being assured of your eternal destiny.  All of these things are afforded to us by our union with him.  It is really, truly remarkable that we are bonded deeply in Christ.

I was walking through the woods one day and stumbled upon the strangest sight I had ever seen.  It was a tree branch.  As a branch, it was pretty ordinary, but two things were remarkable: first, it was suspended in the middle of the air.  It just hung there on its own completely self sufficient.  Second, the tree grew out of the branch.  That’s right.  You just read that last sentence again to make sure you read it correctly.  The branch didn’t grow out of the tree.  The tree grew out of the branch.

If you are still reading at this point, you are saying “preposterous!”  By now, you have probably written me off as a crack-pot or maybe even a crack-head.  And if I had been serious, you would be right.  About the preposterous-ness… not about me being a crack-head.  Trees do not grow out of branches.  Branches grow out of trees.  Branches cannot exist on their own.  They can only exist if they are firmly connected to the tree.

Yet, too often, we treat our relationship with God in such a way.  We treat ourselves as if we are the essential element, and he is something that emanates from us.  We have it backwards.  What follows is a series of articles from John 15:1-11 that will focus us on being securely rooted in him.  Abiding.