Abiding in Christ the Truth and Life
Its late summer and the once little seeds have now grown into plants with many vines, some of them producing fruit. If our lives are going to be fruitful to God they must abide in Christ. Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Just as every seed produces its own kind, no human being can be hidden from the sight of God, having been created in His image. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13
The account in Luke 24:13-35 is the Biblical account of two men walking to Emmaus when a guest joined them, an “unseen guest” in a sense because they did not recognize Him. A major reason why Jesus appeared to many after His death and resurrection was to make it known that we cannot prevent His presence in our lives. If He then was able to appear through closed doors, there is no place we can hide.
That we think we can hide from God is the result of a greater problem–that there is a darkness into which we can find refuge, like pulling a comforter up over our head. When Jesus told His disciples that He would be leaving them, He told them that He would be sending them a Comforter, a guide, yes an unseen guest who would abide/dwell in them and in all of their relationships, even where two or three are gathered together, the presence of the Triune God is there.
Yet we lie to ourselves and to each other, thinking that we can hide behind some self-assigned authority or importance when no such thing exists. The anonymous quote says it all. “Christ is the head of the home, the unseen guest of every meal, the silent listener to every conversation.” There is no relationship, no arrangement, no argument or rationale any one can hide behind.
Therefore, we do not need those who justify their sins by committing greater sins. When we abide in Christ whether within oneself, the family, within the family of God and certainly for those leaders God has chosen to lead us Christ is the unseen guest. Dag Hammarskjold, from Sweden who later became Secretary General of the United Nations said the following. You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy does not reserve a plot of weeds.”
