October 6 -

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2).

As I write this tree surgeons are toiling away in the garden reducing, pruning, and trimming an overgrown pear tree. The work is well overdue because of my reluctance to lose the shade it has given on hot summer days. Grown from a pip – a seed, in a pear my mother was eating, the tree had been nurtured and cared for over the years, yielding pounds of fruit each year after it reached maturity. This spring the tree was completely white with blossom, and I had been quite confident that his year would be a good year, but for some reason the fruit didn't set and just five pears were produced.

As I looked closer I saw that some branches had died and fallen away from the trunk. Some were broken off and tangled in other branches. Some were dead, or half dead, and still attached to the trunk – the time had come for remedial action! "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." -John 15:6

Watching the men as they work, they're pulling away the small, dry, brittle, lightweight branches that are still attached to the trunk, and cutting away the ones that are half dead—the ones that would suck the life from the live branches. All of the dead and half dead branches are easily identifiable because none bore any leaves (fruit) in late spring…

"He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit..." -John 15:2. The only fruitful branches they are cutting are those for shaping purposes—the ones that would benefit the overall practical purposes of the tree to produce more fruitful branches elsewhere. "...while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." -John 15:2

As I watch I realise how essential pruning and training is to achieve the desired appearance and fruit crop. Bonsai trees are a great illustration of this. Incredible plants - pruning can take as much as 80 years for the desired effect to show!

Two thoughts came to me. As a bonsai tree grows, the pruner must vigorously cut off various branches to develop the right shape and size. Even healthy growth must be cut if is not going in the planned direction. There's also a lot of waiting involved. Sometimes it takes decades for the plant to become what the pruner desires it to be. Once that goal is reached, there will still be maintenance pruning as long as the tree lives.

Our lives could be compared to one of those trees, and that God really is a patient pruner. Like my pear tree, He started us from a small seed and has watched us grow for decades – patiently moulding and shaping despite our protests. Many times He's cut off unhealthy branches in our lives, but He has also cut off what seemed to us to be good growth as well. I have found personally, that He will cut what is necessary for my life to take and keep the shape He has designed specifically for me.

The fruit of the Spirit is in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." And God’s fruit of The Spirit must be worked in us before it can be produced through us. It is a process over time that only God can do.

These trees achieved the purpose for which they were created. If and when I don’t like the pruning and shaping God is doing in my life through my pain, I want to remember that I am being conformed into the perfect image He has chosen just for me. And it is good.

How is God pruning you inwardly and outwardly to produce more fruit? Pruning can be painful, but it is always divinely purposed. May you yield to God’s will over your own to be a vessel that produces much fruit for His Kingdom. To God be the glory.

Remember as you go…

Isaiah 58:11 (NLT): "The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring."

(Acknowledgments Bronlynn Spindler and Margaret D. Mitchell)

Our music today is "The Potters Hand" (Lyrics) by Hillsong.  Click on the fruit to listen.