Abiding in Him – Deepening Our Relationship with Christ

8 January 2011

11:19 p.m.

John 15:1-8

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”

Today was a special ‘Men’s Day of Prayer’ with my community group (God’s Light) here in Sydney, Australia. We met at the Mt. Schoenstatt Spirituality Centre in the Penrith area of New South Wales. Paolo (one of our leaders) opened up with an inspiring exhortation to lead our group. He said that there is a difference between Believing in God, and Surrendering to God.  I just have to say that this was a perfect insight to meditate on, and immediately I saw how this simple exhortation was in fact the story of my spiritual life.

As I said in my previous blog, I have been a lukewarm catholic for the past 20 years. Actually, it is more like the past 29 years. Since I was 11, I have had the opportunity to be a part of a community group named ‘Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon (Joy of the Lord).’ Because my parents were very active, I was (by default) a member of the Children’s Formation, the Young Adults, and then eventually as a college student in the University District. These years were surprisingly, some of my most memorable. Yes, I was happy to be a member of a community that loved God, but mostly (I have to admit) I enjoyed being a part of the community because there were just so many pretty girls! Needless to say, I was not necessarily active for the right reasons. Nevertheless, I stayed on in community even when most of my friends were already gone because deep down inside, I knew that I needed it.

Which brings me back to the difference between ‘Believing in God’ and ‘Surrendering to God.’ Why did I say that this is the story of my life? Simply because I have always believed in God, ever since I can remember – my parents made sure of that. But never in my life have I ever SURRENDERED TO HIM, until now.

There is another reason why I stayed with my community even when I had a choice to leave. As quoted from the above passage from John: ‘Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away’, and ‘if a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.’ I was so afraid, no petrified, of the possibility of going to hell. I wanted to live my life, to enjoy it – and I did – for almost 3 decades. But since I believed in God, I knew that He probably was not happy with me. Which is why I hung on to my community- because I knew deep down in my heart, that I had to change eventually. And staying with my community was (I believed) my only hope. Did I want to actually change? I’ll be honest – I think I was enjoying life way too much to not really want to change.  But the question is, was I happy? Perhaps as happy as anyone can be deriving whatever happiness can be had from temporary things, possessions, and what have you.

My cousin Aly responded to one of my blogs and quoted John 4:11-18. I quote from verse 13-14: ‘Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’  So, was I happy? Yes, in the wordly sense. BUT I WAS ALWAYS THIRSTY.

To all of my former pastoral leaders, coordinators, members in my group, my parents, my brother, my wife, my children, my relatives and my best friends, FINALLY, I HAVE SURRENDERED MY LIFE TO GOD. Thank you for the seeds that you have planted starting 29 years ago. I am happy and overwhelmed to let you know that what you have done for me has not gone to waste. By God’s grace, I will bear fruit. And as my other cousin (Karla) said, ‘we need to stay on track and keep our eye on the prize.’ My brothers and sisters, how wonderful would it be for us to be with our God in heaven, to no longer thirst? Isn’t it a no-brainer? Surrender yourself to Him!