11 Feet 8 Inches
By Grant Gaines
In Durham, North Carolina there is an exciting tourist attraction that you won’t find in your typical “Places to see in North Carolina” brochures. This attraction is a railroad bridge that goes over a fairly busy street. Of course it’s not just any bridge. This bridge is special.
What makes this bridge so special is its height. Or maybe better said, what makes this bridge so special is its lack of height. While most overpasses are about 16′ above the road that goes beneath, this particular bridge in Durham, North Carolina is only 11′ 8″ tall. (Just for the record, I’m not sure why the bridge is that short…it just is.)
There are signs and flashing lights for hundreds of yards leading up to this bridge warning truckers about how short the bridge is. In fact, if you even rent a large truck in Durham or the surrounding areas, you are warned about this bridge. Nevertheless, a countless number of semi-truck drivers every year fail to heed to the warnings and wreck the top of their rigs on the low hanging bridge. (here’s a 5 minute video of some of the wrecks if you would like to see some of them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzkWTcDZFH0)
Sadly, the exact same thing could be said for many of us as believers. Though God through His Word repeatedly warns and pleads with us time and time again that “remaining” or “abiding” in Jesus is the only way that we will grow in the Lord, so many of us ignore His warnings and plunge headlong into what we think are solutions which in reality are nothing but dead-end streets.
This idea of remaining in Christ is scattered all throughout the New Testament. Jesus’ most often repeated command in His entire three year ministry was not “love Me” or “learn from Me,” but rather “follow Me” which is simply another way of saying “remain in Me.” 1 John 2:27 (NIV) says that the Holy Spirit constantly reminds us to “…remain in [Jesus].” We could point out other places where this idea of remaining (or “abiding” as some translations say) in Christ are taught, but why don’t we just look at John 15 where Jesus Himself taught on this idea.
In John 15 Jesus and His disciples were walking from the Upper Room after finishing the Last Supper and are on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Christ is mere hours away from being betrayed, beaten, and brutally crucified for the sins of the world (including yours and mine) when He began to teach His disciples one final piece of truth before He left them:
“I Am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. 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 15:1-5, NIV).
So many times we fall for the lie that if we can just go to church enough, be surrounded by the right group of people, and do enough acts of good service, we will be growing in our relationship with God. And while all of those things listed above are certainly good things to have in our lives, Jesus clearly taught a different idea in the passage above.
Unless we personally remain with Christ every single day through spending time in His Word and in prayer, we, according to Christ’s own words, “…can do nothing” (John 15:5, NIV).
We can’t bear love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, or self-control unless we abide in Christ. We can’t live our lives in wisdom nor can we offer anyone a sound piece of godly advice without remaining in Jesus. Plainly put, while we can, “…do all things through Christ who gives [us] strength” (Philippians 4:13, NIV), the reverse is also true – “…apart from [Him] [we] can do nothing” (John 15:5, NIV).
With all that being said, let me ask you a question: are you truly remaining in the Lord every single day? Are you daily diving into His Word? Are you consistently coming to the Lord in prayer throughout your day?
I pray that that’s the case, because if you aren’t, you will be just like the truck drivers who wrecked their rigs on the 11′ 8″ bridge because they ignored the warnings. The only difference is that you can buy a new truck but you can’t buy a new character, reputation, and life. This is the only life you get, be a faithful steward of this gift.
Are you remaining in the Lord today?
PS –
If you don’t know where to start in studying your Bible, here are a few great electronic Bible reading plans to help you get jump started:
– http://wmcc.jointhejourney.com/
– https://www.bible.com/reading-plans
– https://jointhebibleproject.com/about/
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
Email me
©Grant Gaines 2016
