Why Vines Need a Lift
If you’ve ever tried to grow tomatoes without a trellis, you know what happens. The vines sprawl, the fruit lies in the dirt, and rot sets in faster than ripeness. Lift those same vines, and the whole plant changes—sun reaches what was shaded, air moves where it was stagnant, and fruit has somewhere to form. A trellis doesn’t create life; it simply gives life something sturdy to grow on.
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A Swimmer’s Trellis
My wife, Lorri, tells of a trellis that shaped her early life while she swam competitively through high school on a team that produced Olympic athletes. Her days followed a demanding pattern: two hours in the pool before school, a full day of classes, then back to the water again in the afternoon. Rigorous? Unbelievably so. Did it work? Yes—she beat the U.S. AAU champion in the butterfly. That trellis supported her growth. It didn’t replace talent or desire; it gave both a reliable shape.
Psychologists have discovered the same thing about habits: we stick with commitments far more often when we tie them to a specific cue. If it’s 7:00 and I sit with coffee, then I open Scripture. Little if–then anchors like that lift practice off the ground, the way a trellis lifts a vine.
So What Do We Mean by Rule of Life?
Christians have long used the phrase “rule of life” for that kind of shape, but I mean something very simple: a rule of life is a small set of steady rhythms—crafted for your season—that make it easier to live the ways of Jesus, together.
It’s not a scoreboard for God. It’s not a one-size-fits-all checklist. It’s a framework strong enough to grow a deeper life with Christ. And it’s always for now—the season you are living. A rule of life may stretch or shift as life changes, but for today, it simply offers the support you need to keep growing.
How the First Followers Found Their Shape
The story of the beginning of the church is a story shaped by trellises. Even before the church had a name or a gathering place, Jesus invited twelve ordinary men to build their lives around him. They let go of old nets, old professions, old trellises of life. Their days found a new rhythm: walking with Jesus, listening to his teaching, watching his way of prayer, joining his meals, sharing his life. It was a living rule of life—imperfect, sometimes faltering, but sturdy enough to form them.
So when the Spirit of God sparked a moment of growth and a flood of new believers stepped into faith, the disciples weren’t scrambling to invent something from scratch. They knew what to do, because they had lived it.
Acts tells us they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the shared table, and to prayer. They gathered in the Temple courts and around kitchen tables, breaking bread “with great joy and generosity.”
Paul would later describe the same pattern echoing through house churches scattered around the Mediterranean: “Teach and counsel one another… sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”
If you put it in today’s language, their trellis might have sounded like this: If it’s today, then we will gather at the Temple courts and around kitchen tables. That simple pattern gave shape to their lives, the same way an if–then practice can shape ours: If it’s 7:00 a.m. and I’m pouring a cup of coffee, then I open the Gospel and read a paragraph. Different centuries, same wisdom—life grows best on a trellis.
“Different centuries, same wisdom—life grows best on a trellis.”
It’s no surprise, then, that those on the outside—watching this distinctive way of life—gave them a new name. They called them Christians, literally “little Christs,” because their patterns so clearly reflected the One they followed.
Small Patterns You Can Try This Week
A rule of life doesn’t need to be complicated to carry weight. Here are two small trellis pieces you can try this week:
When I pour my first cup, I open to today’s Gospel and read aloud one paragraph. I sit here for 15-minutes and let it soak in.
On Wednesdays and Fridays I skip lunch and pray for two people.
And the good news? Miss a day and you haven’t wrecked the trellis. Research on habit-formation shows that one miss doesn’t undo the pattern. Growth comes through steady repetition in the same setting, not flawless performance.
Why Discipleship Needs a Trellis
We’re talking about discipleship, spiritual formation, and spiritual growth—how these become the church’s heartbeat again, not a class to complete but a life to inhabit.
If a deeper life with Jesus is the journey, the rule of life is the trellis that keeps us moving in the ways of Jesus.
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So as this week unfolds, we’ll explore how to craft a pattern that fits your actual life—your work, your family, your season—so the life of Christ has something sturdy to grow on. Call it a rule of life, a set of rhythms, or just “our way of living with Jesus.” The name matters less than the fruit it can hold.
If this post resonated, would you share it with a friend who longs for a trellis strong enough to hold their faith?
Gratefully,
— Gene
I like how you used the idea of a trellis and habits to give context to rule of life. This post is helpful. Thank you.