Re: Main

This morning I needed to do some routine maintenance on my Mac that I typically do roughly every other week.  As I do, I often flip through some of the magazines that have piled up in my office waiting for me to read them.  Today I skimmed through Risen magazine, and one of the articles was more like a devotional.  I didn't take the time to read much of it as I wasn't in "devotional" mode, but rather "skim quickly, get what you need, and be done" mode while my computer churned away.

So while I didn't ponder the thoughts of the author, I did notice the title.  It was simply one-word: remain.  I quickly could tell the article was about Jesus' famous quote, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you."

A couple of hours later I was walking to the Noelridge Pool to swim laps before a fun staff lunch potluck at the Noelridge Pavilion.  As I was walking and praying, that word came back to my mind: remain.

As I ruminated on that word, I found myself breaking the word up: "re" and "main".  At this point, I had one of "those" moments.  You know, the one where something that has been sitting in front of you the whole time staring you in the face suddenly becomes crystal clear and you wondered how you could have missed something so obvious this whole time.

Jesus is to be the "main" thing in our lives (as is etched on the back of the worship center in New Covenant's facility - "Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing").  And the prefix "re" often means "to do again".  So that means "remain" can be defined as "to make Jesus the main thing in your life again and again".

So often I've seen the word "remain" (especially in the verse mentioned above - John 15:4) as a passive thing - to abide, to sit, to stay, to "remain" in place.

But this "new" definition gives me a fresh perspective.  Rather than be passive, I am to actively seek (with the Holy Spirit's help (to keep this theologically correct!)) to keep Christ at the center of my life, to once again make him the main thing.

Perhaps New Covenant could reduce that saying on the back wall from a 7-word phrase to just one word:

Remain.