My little Molly is 7 plus years old, in dog years 49 plus. She’ll eventually catch up to me at 13 when wevwill both be 91 years old if we both live that long!

We have shared our lives together for so long that we are bonded in everything we do. We share our food, our treats, our recliner, and even our bed at night. We know each other so well that we can almost read one another’s thoughts. She speaks “dog” and I speak English, but we understand each other perfectly.

When I go out, she stays in her bed and refuses to do anything until I return. She goes into limbo without me.

If Molly outlives me, and that is quite possible since she can live to at least 16, I wonder what will happen to her. No one knows her like I do. No one will ever love her like I do. No one will understand and anticipate her needs like I do. If only she could go with me to my heavenly home!

What a wonderful picture of our union with Jesus! He made it possible, through His death and resurrection, for us to be bonded so closely to Him that He lives inside us by His Spirit.

What does Jesus want of us? Three things. Firstly, He wants us to remain in Him by remaining in His love. Such a close bond with Him allows His life to be revealed in us, producing the fruit of character and increase. The more we live out His life in us, the more like Him we grow.

‭John 15:4-5 NLT‬
[4] “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. [5] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. …
[7] But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! …
[10] When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

Secondly, He wants us to be so like Him that He is completely at home in us. When our lives are full of Jesus, thinking and acting as He does, He settles down in a comfortable environment where He, by His Spirit, dwells in us and has constant fellowship with us.

‭1 John 1:3 NLT‬
[3] “We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

Thirdly,He wants us to be with Him forever.

‭John 14:3 NLT‬
[3] “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

There can never be a bond closer than that.