It was 10 years ago that I was in the process of writing Stay: Lessons My Dog Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. I had learned so many wonderful lessons from our sweet canine friend Hannah. After her passing we rescued a puppy that we named Maggie. She was a challenge compared to her predecessor. But Maggie has grown into a sweet and treasured companion. This is an excerpt from one of my favorite chapters in the book about a lesson I learned from Miss Maggie.

Maggie is a Labrador puppy mixed with some other mystery DNA. She is a bouncing, wiggling, sixty-pound bundle of unrestrained energy. Whenever she sees a new person, she cannot stop herself from jumping. Oddly enough, some people do not enjoy sixty-pound creatures hurdling pell-mell into their personal space. Weird. So we either need to fix this bad behavior or become hermits.

Today we enrolled Maggie in puppy training classes. One of the first things the instructor, Tony, said was both apparent and profound. 

“First of all, you have to teach her to sit and stay. When she is sitting, she can’t jump and misbehave.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Wait a minute. Is this another lesson for me in my discipleship-by-dog journey? Maggie needed to learn to sit to avoid committing doggie offenses. I need to sit too, in a spiritual sense. The truth is, when I abide (the biblical version of “sitting”) in Christ, I am empowered to resist sin.

But how can I abide? What does that even mean?

The first time I heard the word abide used was in a lesson taken from the Gospel of John in the King James Version, the Bible I read growing up. 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, KJV)

I knoweth not about thee, but verily I was confused. When I looked up the definition of abide later, it helped clarify what it meant. Abide: 1) to accept something or someone unpleasant; 2) living somewhere; 3) to remain or continue. That was it—to remain or continue—or in Maggie’s terms, “to stay.” Other Bible translations have captured that nuance of abiding or “staying” in Jesus. 

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 
(John 15:4-5, NLT)

Jesus’ message to His followers is to simply remain constantly aware of who we are and where our strength and dependence must be found. It’s tempting and easy to make it all about us instead of Jesus; Satan will always seek to engage us in bad and/or good things if either one takes our eyes off Jesus. If I am wholly absorbed in spiritual things apart from Christ, things I do more to impress others and hope those wonderful deeds will ensure my salvation, I am engaging in good, but not life-changing endeavors. 

We are branches that need to be connected to the Vine. We are not to be independent vines but dependent branches of the life-giving Vine.

I think that we misunderstand the phrase “apart from me you can do nothing.” Of course I can do something and often even significant things apart from Jesus. I can have success, make money, and maybe achieve fame. But there is one significant thing that we absolutely cannot do apart from Christ: produce fruit that pleases God. The branch cannot produce fruit when it is disconnected from the vine. 

Jesus is the true Vine, and if I am joined to Him I will produce fruit. He doesn’t say I might produce fruit. He doesn’t say I could produce fruit if the circumstances are right. Or that I will occasionally bear fruit. Jesus says that if I remain in Him I will produce much fruit. If I don’t remain in Him, I become barren and worthless to Him and His Kingdom.

How do we produce the fruit that Jesus is describing? By not allowing our relationship with Christ to be broken, for us—the branches—not to be severed from the Vine. Our connection to Jesus is not a one-time or yearly or monthly or weekly or daily synchronization. It is not like the intermittent syncs I perform between my computer and phone to update information. It is a continuous awareness of our connection to Christ. That connection allows the fruit of the Spirit to grow abundantly in us and become a part of who we are. The apostle Paul describes exactly what kind of fruit that is.

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23, NLT)

By remaining in an unbroken connection with Christ, we begin to take on His character and produce that kind of fruit. But it can only happen if we “stay” constantly in that relationship.

Want to read more lessons from my rescued canine friends? Click here to check out Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace.