Abide In His Word John 8:31

Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”



Jesus had met with the Jewish leaders and He told them that He was the Light of the World. They heard Him and asked Him many questions and He repeatedly told them that they would not believe in Him and those that did not believe in Him would die in their sin and could not go where He was going. He told them that He was not alone for He had been sent from above from the Father, that they would have known was the God of Israel. As He spoke these words, the Bible tells us that many of the Jews that heard Him believed in Him.

Jesus looked to that group and told them “If you will abide in My Word, then you are My disciples.” These Jews knew God’s Word. It is not enough to “know the Word”. The thing that Jesus is looking for are those that abide in His Word. A lot of people today “know” the Word of God. However, just like the unbelieving Jews, they refuse to believe and accept God’s Word for what it is and follow it as It says we should do.

A lot of people tell me that they find the Bible hard to read. I am personally convinced that the Bible is not as difficult to read as many would say but rather it is difficult to follow and that makes it difficult to read. I tell people who want to know more about God and about His Word, to begin to do what you know the Bible teaches and it will become easier to read and understand!

To abide is to live in His Word, to walk and rest and find our being in His Word. God’s Word is designed to affect every single aspect of our lives. As we learn to let His Word direct our every decision, we will begin to experience God’s peace that passes all understanding and we will find life full to overflowing and more satisfying than we could ever imagine.

This is what Jesus was trying to tell those Jews and this is the same message that He has for you and me today. When we abide in His Word, we shall know the truth because that truth shall set us free. It is not enough to just know the truth for the truth does not set us free in and of itself. It is when we abide in that truth that the truth sets us free.

Jesus lived and abided in the Truth and He endured every single temptation that the devil could throw at Him but He stood firm because He knew the truth. You and I have that same truth and the same Spirit that led Jesus dwelling in us as His disciples if we will just abide in His truth. If we will abide in Him, we shall come to know the truth in a personal way as that truth indeed does set us free! What a glorious promise from the Lord above!

As we seek to know Him in His Word and we walk with Him in an attitude of prayer on a moment by moment basis, God is able to make a profound difference in the lives that we life.

><> Pastor Bob