Editor’s note — This is part one of a two-part column.

“Abiding in Christ is not going outside when my mom tells me not to,” says Alexandra, age 5.

Refusing to go outside of God’s will has everything to do with abiding in Christ. “Abiding means you need to stay with God and listen to him,” says Fayette, 8. “He wants us to stay with him and learn more about him. He loves us all and wants all the people to stick to him.”

Yes, God wants us to be sticky. Just as a vine receives its life from the branch, so Christians are to receive their life from God. Just listen to Peyton, 7: “You can’t have grapes without a grapevine. You can’t have apples without an apple tree. You can’t have life without God.”

“Remain” is another way to translate the word “abide.” The disciples remained with Jesus for three years during his ministry. After Jesus was crucified, Jerusalem’s leaders arrested apostles Peter and John for preaching that God had raised Jesus from the dead. When the leaders examined Peter and John and saw their boldness, “they realized they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

This kind of holy boldness isn’t reserved only for apostles. The same account notes that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. After Jesus returned to heaven as the God/Man in a resurrection body, he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell or abide in his people.

Heaven’s invasion to reclaim the Earth began with one man being filled with the Holy Spirit from birth and abiding in his father’s will. The name Immanuel, which we sometimes hear Jesus called at Christmas, means “God with us.” In his first advent, Jesus was with us in space and time. But now, Jesus lives in all who believe in him as their savior.

“To abide in Christ means to try to do what God wants you to do,” says Chelsea, 8. “If you try to do what the devil wants, you would be abiding in the devil.”

If God is not the captain of your ship, who do you think is? Jesus came to set us free from the delusions of grandeur that characterize living a self-centered life by the spirit of this world.

They say Las Vegas is an inch deep and a mile wide. It’s all lights and glitter. Abiding in the spirit of this world will leave you thirsty and restless.

Jesus promised that he would never leave anyone who has received his gift of eternal life (John 10:28). In light of such faithfulness on God’s part, John wrote: “We love him because he first loved us” (I John 4:19).

Think about this: God wants us to fix our hearts and minds on him and live our lives rooted in him, drawing our life from him. The first psalm says the person who meditates on God’s Word day and night will be “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).

Memorize this truth: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this my father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).

Ask this question: Is your life rooted in Christ or something else?

Kids Talk About God is designed for families to study the Bible together. Research shows that parents who study the Bible with their children give their character, faith and spiritual life a powerful boost. To receive Kids Talk About God three times a week in a free, email subscription, visit www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org/email.