A job hazard forĀ a writer is the fact that I feel like I have to continually drawĀ from the well of my soul. It makes sense as a writer ā€“ that’s where you’d think most ofĀ the great stories come from.

But if you follow that logic,Ā a day will come whenĀ I’ll run out ofĀ stories ā€“ I could potentially exhaustĀ my reservesĀ ofĀ life experiences, highs and lows.

It’s not exclusive to writing as a ministry. For instance, I knowĀ cell leaders whoĀ come up with fantastic care plans for theirĀ sheep, and dream big ideas for growth and multiplication.

But when either these plans fail or they start to run out of capacity to do everything planned, they end upĀ burning out ā€“ wringing theirĀ hands in frustration at lost sheep.

When we reach the end of ourselves, we need toĀ honestly examine if we’veĀ been leaning on the vine ā€“ where God’s strength and wisdom flows ā€“ or if we’veĀ just been drawing from theirĀ own wells.

WE ARE NOT THE VINE WE NEED

AbideĀ 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.Ā I am the vine;Ā you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is thatĀ bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

The vine doesn’tĀ need the branches, but the branches need the vine. Just as we need God, we need to remain in Him if we are to bear fruit ā€“ or indeed if we are toĀ live at all.

It’sĀ tempting to believeĀ we are capable of bearingĀ fruitĀ ourselves. It’s temptingĀ to look at the number of salvations our events have gained,Ā or the number of followers on our Instagrams, or the pageviews on our stories, and quietly believeĀ we are the ones making all the difference.

It’sĀ tempting to believeĀ we are capable of bearingĀ fruitĀ ourselves.

Eventually, we get to a point where we believe theĀ good work we’ve accomplished is all because of us.

But the truth from the Bible is that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. We simply cannot bear fruit of eternal value by ourselves.Ā MyĀ “well” doesn’t run dry when I run out of great storiesĀ ā€“ itĀ runs dry when I am not abiding by the vine.

I’ll tell the best stories when I’m daily sitting by the feet of He who gives me the words to write.

WARNING: STAY WITHĀ GOD

If anyone does not abide in meĀ he is thrown away like a branch and withers;Ā and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (John 15:6)

The warning isn’t just that we won’t bear fruit. IfĀ weĀ miss the point, andĀ fail to abide in Jesus ā€“ if we no longer depend entirely on him for life ā€“ then we risk deathĀ eternally.

WeĀ remainĀ in God by walking closely to Him,Ā devoting unhurried time to His Word and communion with Him. We remain in God by utterly depending on Him, acknowledgingĀ that we are nothing apart from Him.

In Him, our finite time on earth has infinite potential for the Kingdom.

If we do these things ā€“Ā walking closely with the LordĀ and bearing fruit forĀ God’s glory ā€“ we can then expect to be pruned (John 15:2). The Greek verbĀ for “prune” is kathairĆ³, which also means “to cleanse” or “to purify”.

PruningĀ ā€“ painful as it can be ā€“ occurs because the GardenerĀ loves His good branches, and desires to be glorified (John 15:8) by the fruit we bear, by our growth.

In Him, our finite time on earth has infinite potential for the Kingdom.

God may weed out certain mindsets, activities or even people in our lives ā€“ so that HeĀ can giveĀ us more of Him.

We should earnestly desire this pruning, that we might better abide in Him. To truly abide (mĆ©nō)Ā is to never depart. Can you imagine a life where we areĀ ever leaning upon the Vine,Ā pleasing the Master of the vineyard with the sweet fruits of lives ā€“ wholly and inextricably devoted to Him?

I can tell you what that would feel like. According to John 15:11 ā€“ your joy will be complete.