The Source

Where does life actually come from?

You probably spend most of your day trying to get life from things. Think about it:

• You check your phone to see if anyone liked your post
• You work hard in school so people think you’re smart
• You try to be funny so people want to be around you
• You perform to feel like you matter

None of that is evil. But none of it is the source of life either. Every one of those things runs out. You get the like, and ten minutes later you need another one. You ace the test, and the next one is already stressing you out.

You’re running on a treadmill. And the treadmill never stops.

Jesus had a different idea.

The vine

Jesus used an image that His audience would have understood immediately — a vineyard:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” — John 15:5

A branch doesn’t strain to produce grapes. It doesn’t set goals or make a plan. It just stays connected to the vine, and the life of the vine flows through it, and fruit happens naturally.

Apart from me you can do nothing.

That’s not a guilt trip. That’s a relief. You were never designed to be the source. You’re designed to be a branch — connected to someone else’s life, letting it flow through you.

Living water

Jesus met a woman at a well — she’d been looking for life in all the wrong places (five marriages, actually). And He told her:

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” — John 4:13-14

Every other source of life is a well you have to keep coming back to. Jesus offers something different — a spring that flows from inside you. Not something you chase. Something that lives in you.

The grain of wheat

Here’s one of the most important things Jesus ever said, and most people skip right past it:

“Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” — John 12:24

Jesus was talking about Himself. He was the grain of wheat. His death wasn’t a tragedy — it was a planting. His life, locked up in one body, was released through death to flow into millions of people.

His death is how His life reached you.

The bread of life

When crowds followed Jesus looking for free food (after He multiplied loaves and fish), He redirected them:

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” — John 6:35

He’s not saying “I’ll feed you.” He’s saying “I am the food.” The life you’re looking for isn’t an experience or an achievement or a feeling. It’s a Person.

What this means for you

The source of your life is not:

• Your grades
• Your social status
• Your talent
• Your followers
• Your appearance
• Your family’s opinion of you

The source of your life is Christ. He’s the vine. He’s the water. He’s the bread. He’s the grain that died and multiplied.

When you try to source life from anything else, it works for a minute and then runs dry. When you receive life from Him, it wells up from the inside like a spring that doesn’t stop.

The question isn’t “what do I need to do?” The question is “am I connected to the Source?”

That leads to the next big question: how did you get connected in the first place?