Ah, September… that magical time of the year when hearts turn to that special event (especially in Texas) FOOTBALL! Like the vast majority of people who play the sport I never made it past the high school level (maybe that’s why it is so esteemed in this state).

My favorite way to play football is the basic pick-up style where any number of people can be on a team, as long as there’s an equal amount on each side. The plays are called in the huddle by the quarterback. Since I’m rather small I usually got to be the wide receiver. I knew it was my opportunity for glory when the quarterback called my name and said; “Wade, go deep!” I could see six points for our team in a matter of seconds.

Jesus had the whole nation of Israel to choose His team from. I believe that based on the home base of most of the members, and the quality of the players the team name was probably the Galilee Guppies. Of course there was one specialist on the team brought in from Judea; he must have been the kicker. Nobody else wanted him after he missed the winning kick in the championship game the previous season. Rumors surfaced that he possibly bet against his team after he was seen riding in a new chariot shortly thereafter. He was allowed to carry the money for this team. His name was Judas Iscariot. Doesn’t it just make you love Jesus all the more when you realize that He knew what vitally despicable role this member had to play in the end, and Jesus still made him a member of the team?

I can envision the offensive set up: Jesus is the quarterback (of course this wouldn’t be fair for the other team since He would know what the defense would do even before they did); the fullback would be none other than Simon “The Rock” Peter; flanking him on either side, in the wishbone formation, would be James and John, “The Sons of Thunder”. I know this didn’t actually happen, but, you have to agree, this does look good on paper.

Zebedee’s boys would play the outside linebackers on defense. Peter would be the all-important middle linebacker. He would call over to Jesus before each play and say… “Don’t worry, Jesus, I’ll die for you!” Then, as he played under his own power, the other team would plow right over him. Andrew would come over, and, as he helped Peter back up would say, “You were right about one thing, Brother. You got killed on that play, too.”

Thanks for letting this writer’s imagination run a little bit.

I’m concerned that too many people are content to live their Christian life seeking an experience, rather than developing a relationship. They attend church on Sunday trying to recapture that warm fuzzy feeling that makes them feel good all over. The repetitive songs continue until they reach that place of ‘worship’ in their being. The sermon can talk about “everything working together for good”, but don’t dare mention the suffering and groaning that are a part of the same chapter of Romans 8.

At the beginning of John 15 Jesus calls His rag-tag team of 12 followers in a huddle and in His first century way tells them all to “go deep”. How else would you explain Him saying “abide in Me, and I in you” (NKJV)? That sounds quite deep to me.

Jesus goes on to explain that there will be some pruning involved in order to be able to ‘score’ (i.e. be fruitful), but, of course, only the most fit players can make the team. Who doesn’t want to be on the team with only the best players?

What, exactly, is involved in ‘abiding’ in Christ? The word picture of grafting into the vine is an excellent illustration by the master teacher. When gardeners want to strengthen their product one way of obtaining the desired result is to cut a branch from one plant and carefully splice into the stem of a similar plant. To be successful they need to line up the portions of the inside of the cuttings so that the sap coming from the trunk of the main plant feeds the branch that is being added to it. If they fail to line up the life lines of the two sections then the branch will die.

But, when the sap feeds into the branch a new result is accomplished that wouldn’t occur any other way. This is the crux of Jesus’ message. He wants us to derive our source of energy, our very life source, from Him in order for us to fulfill God’s desired result in our life… the unique calling that we are made for. Remember the difference in Peter after he had the indwelling Holy Spirit in the book of Acts? “I am the bread of life” Jesus also told His disciples in John 6. When we eat food it nourishes and sustains us. This is the concept Jesus is teaching… derive your life from Me (think about that the next time you partake of communion).

So, how do we abide on the spiritual level? John begins his gospel by using the metaphor of Jesus being ‘the Word’. Read the Word, the Bible, on a consistent basis, preferably daily. That’s the best way I know of to ‘go deep’.

—Wade Webster

You Are invited to read Wade’s blog; wadewebsterwrites.wordpress.com, to learn more about his spiritual journey of “going deep.”