Rest & Work

The pace of life keeps increasing, and most of us feel pressure from every direction. The image above describes a different way to order our days, one that increases productivity while actually reducing stress.

Jesus used a grapevine analogy that’s recorded in the gospel of John chapter 15. He says that if we begin by abiding or resting in a source greater than ourselves, we’ll experience fruitfulness. According to the analogy, it’s like a grape branch that is deriving its life source from the vine. It’s really not “doing” anything. We might say it’s resting or recharging.

What do you do to recharge, and how often do you actually do it? Think about how a pendulum works. If the “swing” or arc of the pendulum is the amount and quality of our recharging time, it logically follows that the swing toward fruitfulness or productivity will move proportionately to the recharge we experienced. Or as Sir Isaac Newton said, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

A lot of our anxiety can be reduced when we work from a place of rest. There really is no way to cheat the system. We can try, but it seems illogical that it can work.

On Pruning

Jesus adds that if grape vines are going to be fruitful, they must be pruned. Most people aren’t around fruit-bearing plants, especially grape vines. Healthy grape vines need some of their branches cut off. Life is a lot like that. It gets full of all kinds of things that reduce our quality of life and add stress. Periodically we need to remove some things from our lives.

What’s the first thing that came to your mind when you read that? Is there a part of you that felt a sense of relief at the thought of cutting that thing out?

Remember the goal is to get at least 1% better. What small step can you take?