“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, that it may bear more fruit. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:1-2, 5, 8
Ouch, Hallelujah!*
In the past, I’ve looked at this passage and thought to myself, “Pruned if I do, and pruned if I don’t. Seems like life is gonna be just one big OUCH!”
Although I am, and always will be, attached to the vine, I don’t always abide in it. In my humanness I am prone to wander. I can get carried away by my own sinful desires or get distracted by spending too much time and energy in unfruitful activities, just like a “runner” or “sucker” wildly trailing off to who-knows-where. Some runners will actually lie on the ground and begin to take root. Suckers do not produce fruit; they only sap strength away from the vine.
Our Vinedresser is all about producing fruit. The unfruitful branch lying in the dirt is subject to weakness and disease. (Sin is like dirt, covering the leaves.) These He lifts up, cleans off, and secures up onto the trellis. He doesn’t throw them away or abandon them. This pruning is the discipline of our loving heavenly Father, prompting us to deal with our sin, and He may have to use painful measures to bring us to repentance (Hebrews 12:5-6).
He also prunes the branch that bears some fruit so it will bear more fruit. He prunes the “self” that gets in the way, the useless and unnecessary things, thoughts and attitudes that waste precious time and detour us from God’s will and purpose for us. The older we get, the deeper the pruning. His desire is not that we do more for Him, but we do more with Him. Abiding!
Conviction is unpleasant and the results of sin can be downright devastating and painful, but our response in repentance to the Lord’s discipline not only brings us freedom, but the joy of pleasing our Father. “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). OUCH, HALLELUJAH!
“Father, thank You for changing my preconceived ideas on the lesson of the vine. I want to abide in You. Help me to accept every ‘ouch’ that comes from Your loving hand, knowing the end result is for my good and Your glory. Hallelujah!”
* “Ouch, Hallelujah!” is an expression I gleaned from Joyce Meyers.
With garden season upon us, interesting analogy. I love your opening: ‘pruned if you do and pruned if you don’t’.. 🙂
Amen
Lessons from the garden—I love it. Pruning can often feel like the end as we stand there stripped away and feeling bare, but that’s often when God is just beginning to start something new. If you’ve been “pruned” lately, take heart, trust God and keep your eyes open—the best is yet to come.