Spiritual Rythm

In 3D Ministries book Building a Discipling Culture they walk through eight pivotal Life Shapes that if understood and applied can in turn shape our lives closer into the mold that God designed for us.  The Semi-Circle is the one which caught my attention today.

The Semi-Circle is representative of a pendulum that swings to and fro between Work and Rest; the rhythm of life that God introduced to us in Genesis.  The left side of the pendulum is Rest and the right, Work.  From left to right, the four points which it passes are Abiding, Pruning, Growth and Fruitfulness, but the sway does not actually go in that order.  Rather, out of Rest, our time spent abiding in Jesus, comes growth, and only from growth can we bear fruit.  One end of the pendulum to the other.  On returning from fruitfulness we enter back into the phase of Rest, first through pruning and finish the swing back at abiding.

The beauty of a pendulum is that with each swing it re-energizes itself, always returning to the point from which it was dropped without losing any momentum.  But being human we are subject to friction and, if left to swing alone, will inevitably return to a stale state of equilibrium.  Unlike a pendulum, the momentum can never be sustained by our selves.  In John 15 Jesus says "Apart from me you can do nothing."  In many sense however, this is unfortunately not true.  I believe we're capable of all kinds of things when we are not abiding in Jesus.  But what I realized as I was studying this Life Shape today was that without Abiding, without beginning at the top of the swing there will never be enough momentum to get us around to the other side where we see fruitfulness in our lives.  Without Jesus, its like we're running back and forth between some state of work and rest- growth and pruning if we can call it that, but the work is painful and the rest is unsatisfying.  We laugh, we cry; we experience pain and joy; we learn, we grow, we succeed for a while, and then we crash and burn.  "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." 

But the magic of the Semi-Circle is a picture of grace itself.  As I stated above, Jesus provides us the energy to bear fruit.  But it requires the same energy to climb the left side into abiding that it did to reach fruitfulness, and in our sinfulness we will always lose momentum.  On our own the feat of returning to the top feels quite hopeless.  But when Jesus tells us to abide in him, to remain in him, this is an action that's to be lived out out in every phase of our lives.  When we actively live in his word and let him shape the reality of our lives, we are renewed as people and He draws us back to the beginning and releases us once more into the rhythm of life.

"I am the true vine, and my father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me and I will remain in you."  John 15:1-4