Elvis

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.   John 15:5

Recently, Susie and I spent a night with Elvis. It’s true.  We had to spend a night at Chicago’s Midway airport; waiting for the airline check-in counters to open up at 4:30 in the morning.  As we arrived at about 10:00p.m. local time, we picked up our bags and made out way to some hard plastic seats that wound up being our night-time abode.

As we walked closer to the seats, we spotted him.  I whispered to Susie, “Look at him.  He thinks he’s Elvis”  Seems a fellow already sitting a waiting for a morning flight had large black hair, huge black sideburns and a guitar case.

As we laid claim to our seats, I got a closer look at the guy.  He was wearing a black sequined jacket; embroidered on the back of it, laced with rhinestones, were the words, “Elvis Presley.”

He did think he was Elvis.  And…he was Elvis.  Kind of.

Turns out he was an entertainer that made his living as an Elvis impersonator. All across the United States.   And he, like us, had had some serious flight interruption getting from one gig to another.  That’s how I knew wasn’t the real Elvis.  The real one had his own jet.  Faux Elvis flew Southwest Airlines; just like us.

The passage above I shared with you is not about Elvis.  Or impersonating Elvis. It's about living life as God would want us to.  And being the person, the real genuine person, he created us to be.  He wants us to abide in him, so that he would abide in us so that, in our lives we would bear much fruit.  For there is no greater living than bearing the fruit that God wants to produce in and through us.

The only one our Lord would like us to imitate is…our Lord.  Ultimately, we can do nothing of lasting value without him.  Nothing.  Even singing like Elvis will mean little if we are not singing for our Lord.

Who are you imitating?  Who do you sing for?  In whom do you abide?

P.S.  Faux Elvis spends a lot of his time on cell phones and drinking Diet Pepsi. And he is a real nice guy.  If you see Elvis this weekend, tell him Chris and Susie say hi!