As I read John 15, I saw something in a different light than I had ever seen. God, as only He does, using His special flashlight. I can testify that I have experienced Him using His special flashlight many times in my life.
We are very complex people. Many, many areas of our lives weave in and out. Some areas focused, on point, and some a complete tangled mess. In this passage of John, I know the bad branches are cut away. The other branches, pruned. I have always thought of myself as one of those good branches because I KNOW that HE IS IN ME and I AM IN HIM. This and this only affords me my “goodness” and that goodness IS JESUS!! I saw as God showed his “spotlight” that a good branch can have many branches or even small twigs, “….He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
When pruning, I cut away all the dead branches and/or twigs. I would not cut away a major branch, especially one still producing. This thought caused me to pause, to ponder, to do some deep soul searching. What “branches” need pruning in MY LIFE? To be a good gardener, one must research, one must know what is needed to make the plant better. Better…..to produce growth, flowers or fruit.
My Heavenly Father is my gardener and HE KNOWS ME! Those “branches/twigs” of my life that need pruning are in full view of Him and cannot be hidden from Him. NOTHING IS HIDDEN! To my sorrow, there are some I want to keep, but God’s pruning, in God’s way and in His time will produce the godly fruit that He desires for me. Why would I resist this? Because sometimes this pruning is painful and this pain actually produces fruit, God’s fruit. This “pruning” will come in different forms. James1:2-4 states that trials are a test, developing perseverance and maturity. This is what pruning does; a good gardener knows when to prune and what to prune….a snip here and a bigger snip there. God Almighty knows what is needed for each one of us to grow IN HIM! He knows what is needed to bear that spiritual fruit for His glory and for His Kingdom.
One day the “pruning” will stop. It will no longer be needed because this “branch” will be in the eternal presence of my Heavenly Father, my special, personal, and loving GARDENER……and what a day that will be!
