“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 ESV

Fall is slowly coming in SC. I was out walking one morning and saw this holly bush heavy burdened with berries. In a couple of months they will be the familiar red berries everyone sees at Christmas time. It reminded me of myself to some degree.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like God is moving me from one season of my life to another, especially in the realm of ministry. The Spirit has had me observing the subtle changes of fall and applying what I observe to how God is working in my life. I am in the place of in-between and waiting as patiently as I know how to step into my next phase, whatever and wherever that leads me.

By almost every spiritual gift analysis I have ever taken, I am a heavily gifted person. I understand that fully and I also know that I have not been fully active in some of those gifts. Perhaps this partly to a lag in faith on my part, but more importantly, I see it as a situation where God has been developing other gifts to build me up to the place where I am fully active in all the gifts (if that makes sense). It is an error I see some take — to see what their gifting is, then declare them and try to engage in all of them without letting God grow us and ripen us for the right season. I have been watching myself ripen in the gifts that I have been engaged in, but there are more that God needs to finish ripening in order for me to be the most effective servant possible.

These green holly berries are truly plentiful but they are not ripe yet. They need to remain on the bush a little longer, receive nutrients from the bush, be bathed in the autumn sunlight and yes, endure a cold snap or two with heavy frost before they will come to be the plump red berries that we like to see decorate our homes with at Christmas. Without going through the natural process of ripening, they will rot or fall off the bush before time. They are in the in-between stages of existing but not yet in season. Jesus gives us a beautiful example of how we are to grow in Christ and in our faith walk. First, we must be attached (salvation), then we have to grow (spiritual formation activities) and then we will bear fruit (discipleship). None of this happens if we don’t take part in a seemingly idle activity – abiding. Abiding simply means to remain. We remain in Christ when we participate in fellowship, pray, worship, meditate and study God’s word. We remain in Christ when we trust Him in the hardest of times and delight in Him in the best of times. It seems like a simple enough task, but the throws of life can make it very difficult. Our own doubts, fears and faltering faith make it very difficult. But the promise here is that if we remain in Christ, we will bring forth an abundance of fruit that will cause others to turn to Christ. The caveat is in the last part of the verse. When we don’t abide in Him, nothing of any spiritual good will come from us. We will be like berries that rot on the branch or fall to the ground. It seems like such a waste of energy to let that happen. And when I consider my personal spiritual growth, the place where I am now of in-between, I will continue to wait patiently for the changes that are coming because I want to be fully ripened to do all that He has for me to do.