John 15:5-8 (NIV)
5 “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. 6
If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.
Something strange was happening in the garden the other
day as I stood here. The plants all
seemed to be growing fine then the strange part happened. The plants started
having leaves and fruit cut off. I heard them say that as the week parts are
cut off it will make the plant stronger and bear greater fruit.
Pruning is essential in maintaining the health, and fruit
bearing ability of any plant or tree.
Even in my vegetable garden, I have learned that simply pruning older
leaves on plants like tomatoes and cucumbers can yield more vegetables, and
cause the plants to thrive. I also prune
my orange trees, cutting away dead branches, or branches known as suckers
(which grow vertically, and do not bear fruit).
When pruning vegetable plants, one must be careful not to
do too much pruning, as it can put the plant into shock, and even result in the
death of the plant. Usually, I prune
away older leaves that have yellowed and lost their deep green hue. This yellowing of the leaves is an indicator
that the leaf is no longer beneficial to the plant. It has become dead weight, and is draining
the plant of nutrients that could be going into new leaf growth, or blossoms,
or increasing the size and yield of the crop.
We are like these vegetable plants. We are like God’s garden. We are like His vineyard, or His
orchard. God prunes away those things in
our lives that have become old, and useless.
Sometimes that pruning is the removal of our “old ways’ of the
world. Sometimes God prunes away our old
concepts, and doctrines. Sometimes He
allows us to suffer the loss of our health, or our ability to generate income,
or other areas to learn dependence upon Him.
By so doing, the Lord knows that we will grow healthier,
and stronger. We will grow higher
towards the sunlight of His love. We
will bear fruit of the Spirit, and harvest many souls for Him.
Jesus told the parable of the vine and the branches. The main Vine represents Jesus. The branches represent His followers and
disciples. The branches (us) must be
connected to the main Vine, from whence comes the source of life. If the branches are broken off of the main
Vine, they dry up, and become useless.
They can no longer bear fruit.
We must abide (continue) in Jesus; that is, we must
continue to grow in Him. It is not
enough to just be connected to Him. We
must yield fruit. Sometimes we lose our
vision, or we backslide. When this
happens, we become dried up spiritually, and no longer glorify God. If this condition persists, and we don’t
repent, and be grafted back into the Vine (Jesus), we are cast into the fire,
and burned.
Christians don’t like to be taught about hell because it doesn't feel good to them; they are self-deceived in thinking that to avoid
this topic it will go away, or cease to be a reality. We need not cower before God’s throne of
grace, but we must not ignore the fact there are eternal consequences for
failing to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
As I mentioned earlier, when pruning fruit trees, only
the dead and sucker branches are to be removed.
I know that I cannot do major pruning every year, because the plant must
have time to be renewed. This is
especially true with fruit trees. God
told the sons of Israel to prune for six years, but on the seventh year, they
were not to prune, and give the plants a rest.
Oftentimes we struggle with sin. God knows that we will sin. What keeps us in sin however, is failing to
believe that we can come to God for forgiveness through the blood of
Jesus. Oftentimes we just don’t feel
‘worthy’ enough for the Savior’s love and mercy. Let us each let God prune what it bad from our
lives so that we can bear the good fruit.
Dear Lord, we thank You that You are there to prune the
bad habits, and things that cause us to fail from our life. We pray that we
would come to You faithfully and allow Your good work in us. In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
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