Cropping

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.

(John 15:2, NKJV)

Not long ago, I learnt the secret to fruit farming.  I watched a farmer cut down some branches which looked good and healthy, leaving only a few standing.  As I watched, I was curious why he was cutting down the branches which to me seemed ready to start budding.  When I enquired about it, I learnt that he was cutting the excess branches to allow those that remained to gain full nutrients.  The cropping was also meant to strengthen the trunk as it fed the branches. This was a way of ensuring that the fruit produced would be full and healthy.  The lesson was that if all the branches had been left to grow, the final results would be fruits not fully grown while others would wither before maturity.  The pruning was to protect the fruit, leaving enough branches for a good harvest.  He was sacrificing some of the weaker branches to allow the stronger ones to get stronger and more fruitful.

 In our reference verse, we see Jesus talking of Himself as the true vine and letting us know that any branch connecting to Him must be fruitful.  Those that are not fruitful are cut off so that those that remain bear much fruit.  Pruning in our lives as believers is part of what the Holy Spirit does.  We do not always enjoy the pruning as it at times calls on us to stop what we have accommodated, but we know that pruning is for our good and for the glory of the name of the Lord.  The bible has many different references to pruning and our attitude towards it.  Apostle Paul reminds us that as we have received Christ Jesus as Lord, we now need to walk in Him, being rooted and built up in Him and established in faith (Colossians 2:6-7).  The walk of believers has to be in line with our faith in Jesus Christ, calling us not to walk as we did before but in ways that affirm our establishment in the roots of faith.  Elsewhere, we read that we therefore must walk and live in a manner worthy of the Lord so that we bear good fruit (Colossians 1:10).  It is in our commitment to follow our Master Jesus that we then submit to the pruning of the Holy Spirit where we let go that which He highlights as unwanted in our lives.  We surrender to being shaped by Him.

 Jesus in teaching His followers spoke of issues that we face in life and which push away from the Father.  As a guide to the people, Jesus spoke of an eye or a hand causing one to sin and to this, He advised that we are to cast it away to save our lives.  The verses continue to say that it is more profitable to lose that which causes us to sin than to have our whole body cast to hell thereby losing our lives  (Matthew 5:29-30).  In the eyes of God, sin is sin and what is required of us is to step away from it.  Such guidance from the word of God could be the uncomfortable pruning of our lives, forsaking the current choices for a higher calling of eternity.  Beloved, while this might seem punitive since it is a disciplining by the Father.  Yes, discipline is painful but later it yields the desired fruit even as we are trained on how to live (Hebrews 12:6).  The result of our yielding to the disciplining of God is that we bear fruits of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10-11).  God knows that left to our own devices, we are likely to miss the mark, so the disciplining is part of His love in making us what He desires, fruit bearing branches.  None of us enjoys the chastening and often we could be tempted to avoid it but beloved, for the fruit that is promised and an eternity with God, let us submit to these temporal moments of discipline that we might gain eternal life. 

 Thoughts:

Where has God taken you through pruning?

What has been the result of the pruning in your life?

When have you resisted the pruning?