Last Sunday, we were in John 15:1-8, where the word “abide” kept showing up again and again. To abide means to remain, to stay. Not something occasional, but something continual.

Sometimes we refer to our home as our “place of abode.” It’s where we live, where we settle in, where we return to at the end of the day. It’s not somewhere we visit once in a while—it’s where you’ll normally find us.

That’s the picture Jesus gives. He says he is the vine, we are the branches—and then he says, “Abide in me.” Stay connected. Make your life there. Don’t drift in and out.

Now as we come to verses 9-17, Jesus continues with that same word, but he deepens it. He says, “Abide in my love.” So we’re not just abiding in him in some general sense—we’re abiding specifically in his love.

And again, this is not something occasional. Not something just for Sundays or spiritual highs. This is meant to be the daily, settled reality of the Christian life. Every day, we are to live in, remain in, dwell in the love of Jesus.

Which raises a couple of important questions:

• What does it actually mean to abide in Christ’s love?
• How do we find that in the real rhythms of everyday life?