"Prune Any Lately?"

“I am the vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:1-2

We have a tree in our yard that is near one of the security lights we have on a pole to light up our backyard.  Over the past few years the branches on that tree have grown so that it covers the light and does not illuminate our backyard.  Terry said, you have to do something about that.  So I did.

I went to Lowe’s Home Improvement and bought a tree and limb pruning device.  It extends up to 14 feet and can prune or saw off unwanted limbs.  This past weekend I did just that, I pruned off the unwanted limbs and shaped up the tree branches so that the light would shine clear and be productive again.  Terry’s response:  “Thanks!  But I didn’t know you were going to cut that much off.”  Me: “I needed to cut that much off for the light to shine properly and cover the yard complete as it should.”

Many of you know me, that gets me thinking and relating my experiences back to the Gospel.  

Jesus is teaching His disciples in the upper room prior to His arrest as is recorded in John 15.  He wants to make sure they understand the call on their lives and what it will take to serve Him.  In chapter 15 of John’s gospel, Jesus gives us one of the 7 “I Am” statements.  “I am the vine.”  Jesus reminds His disciples that they are to stay connected to Him for life, for He is the life giver.  Without Him, being connected to the source of life, all others will die.  John 15:6 “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

Jesus also says though, “My Father is the vinedresser.”  Our heavenly Father prunes the branches.  He prunes us of those things that need to be cut away so that we can be productive, so we can illuminate His Word to a dark world.  He wants our light to shine complete, not hid under a basket or covered by “stuff” in our lives so that others do not see Him.  God will prune us at times whether we want to be pruned or not.

But His desire is that when we see areas of our lives that need to be pruned, we take the initiative to do some pruning ourselves.  You know what I mean folks.  All of us have things going on in our lives that really have nothing to do with nor support our walk with Christ.  In fact, in many cases, it hurts our witness for Christ.  When God convicts us by His Holy Spirit that those things need to go, what do you do?  Say, “Oh, God, I can handle both!  No worries God, I’ve got this.”  OR do you say, “God, I see I’ve been covering up my light (witness) for You and I’m going to cut that out of my life so that I can be a better witness for You.”

Done any “Pruning lately?”  My tree I pruned looks so good, or at least I think so, because it is shining as intended to light up my backyard.  My desire is to prune away the things in my life so that my light shines completely for HIM.  

“Pruned Any Lately?”

    

Blessings my friends,

      Pastor Marty              

Worship, Grow, Serve