Breathe

John 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become [be] my disciples.

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One of the “biggest” ideas of Scripture is distilled to an absolute and simple truth in this one verse.  It’s the will of God.  It begins, “My Father is glorified by this…”  Surprisingly it’s not a list of things you must do but the more subtle and important variation between the words “become” and the footnoted [be].  Growth is focused on “becoming.” Glorifying God is focused on “being what you’ve become.” Those two forms of the same word are the distilled reality of living in God’s will.

BE: “exist, have life, breathe

Knowing the will of God seems impossibly big but Jesus has clearly identified how simple it is: bearing fruit and being a disciple of His. The one who exists to BE in Christ is simply and absolutely living in the will of God. The will of God is not a struggle of the mind to grasp all the “shoulds” and do them. The will of God doesn’t require perfection; Jesus has got that!  The Word of God is not a crib sheet with the right answers to all the questions that haven’t come up yet.

When God breathed life into Adam He established drawing breath as evidence of life. God in his sovereign will has chosen Jesus and the Holy Spirit and given us the Word to breathe His life into us.  Every breath taken “accepting and acting in accordance [abiding] with” Jesus is simple and absolute proof of life that glorifies God and confirms you are in His will and you will bear fruit.  Just abide and breathe!