In John 15:4-5 Jesus says "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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."
What does it mean to 'abide' in Christ? To abide means: 'to stay' 'dwell' 'remain' or 'not stray away.' In the same way that a branch that grows away from the grapevine cannot bear any grapes, we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in Christ. If we look at how a grapevine grows and bears fruit, we understand why a branch apart from the vine is not able to produce fruit.
Without the vine, the branch could not bear fruit, let alone survive. But even branches that are still connected to the vine, but grow further away from their lifeline still struggle to receive the nutrients that they need to produce fruit. The branches that grow to the side or underneath the vine will have trouble getting the sunlight that they need and will not flourish. The healthiest branches are the ones closest to the vine or in our case Jesus.
So, what does it look like to abide in Christ? When we are abiding in Christ, we are trusting in Jesus while obeying Him and finding all we need in our Vine. Someone who is abiding in the Vine will stay attached to Him at all times, whether it is easy or difficult.
Not only are we to remain in Christ, but He must remain in us. He cannot abide in us if we are not reading His Words and following His commands. The people who stay in Christ and keep Christ in themselves will bear the most fruit. We stay in Christ because we know that apart from Christ we can do nothing. When we stay in Christ, we can be nurtured and will eventually bear fruit. The only reason that the branch is even there is to produce fruit. That is our main job while we live on the Earth too- to produce fruit through our faith in Jesus Christ. Are you making sure that you stay with Christ and not grow apart from Him?