To prune or not to prune. . .

And I'm not thinking about dried plums, no thank you.

So, I used to sell my family's cheese at farmer's markets -a job that I actually typically enjoyed, I got to meet a lot of cool customers and vendors. Well, one of these vendors sold apples but there was something not quite right - they were small, very small. Customers thought they were so cute and perfect for their kids' lunchboxes. But I knew better, I knew there was something amiss. These apple trees were not being pruned properly and when I asked her why she simply said that they were too busy and never got around to it.

Interesting, there's a lot to learn here - especially if you dive into John 15, a chapter that always challenges me. Jesus says, "Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. . .Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me" (John 15:2,4). Now, I recommend reading the passage in context first. . .partially because I don't want to type it all out for you. :)

So, here we see that the Lord wants us to have good soil so that we are fruitful, so that the Word can really take root as we saw yesterday, but then also that there are degrees of fruitfulness. I know that I want to produce fruit for Him, and not just any kind of fruit. I want fruit that is fully developed in size and flavor. I guess some fruit is better then no fruit but the Lord expects more. And then He's so good to tell us that producing better fruit (and really any kind of fruit at all) is not something we can possibly do on our own. Take those little apples as an example. If they could have pruned themselves they would have but that is not possible without the help of the farmer. The same is true of you and me. God is the one who prunes, and though at times painful, in the long run the results are so tasty.

So what's our part then? If God does the pruning what must I do? Well, once again, as with the apples, they must stay attached to the vine, their source of life, in order to grow and be fruitful. And this is exactly what Jesus tells us. My role is to abide in Him, and when doing this well my life is fully surrendered and I accept the pruning that He does, acknowledging that He knows exactly what He's doing for my good and His glory. And remember, God is never to busy to prune us - out of His great love for us He takes the time to carefully make us more like Himself, something that would be impossible apart from a relationship with Him, through His Son, Jesus Christ. I'm so thankful that I get to live a fruitful life, a life full of purpose and direction, a life that is about more then the here and now, a life that is centered on my Savior, a life that is fully dependent on Him is the only kind of life that makes sense.

Here's to the pruning process! Hope you're having a joyful day!