Don’t you love when you’re going about your everyday work or
to-do list and you suddenly get a definition of a Biblical concept?
That just happened to me this afternoon. Something inside me
was awakened as God revealed His Word to me in such a clear way.
I’ve never been much of a gardener. However, I began my interest in growing flowers
and plants from seeds last year. This
afternoon after church I decided it was time to do a little end of the summer
cleaning. Many of the plants out on my
balcony had either died or were being deprived of water and proper sunlight. Some of my flower pots however have some
beautiful flowers continuing to bud in the midst of healthy dark green
leaves.
However, there were some flower plants that were just too
far gone to be worth the time it would take to revive them. With these plants I resigned myself to simply
go ahead and throw them away and make more room for those which were still
blooming. As I began to sort out those
that needed to be tossed versus those that were worthy of keeping, I began to
see the need to rearrange what would be left behind.
When I got closer to the flower pots and picked them up I
began to see that on the bottom side there were some dead branches and leaves
along with the living ones. I had never
noticed these before but there were so many of them I was forced to clear them
out. I believe the official term for
this is called pruning.
Suddenly, John 15:1-4 made sense.
“I am the true vine, and my Father
is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away,
and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides
in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”
There it was right in my own hands, on my own balcony. Often times my sin makes me feel so dead
inside. It makes me feel worthless and
unusable by God. Despite all of my
theological training. Despite all of the Bible verses I’ve read that tell me
otherwise knowing that I have a few dead branches makes me feel as if all of me
is dead. My gardening made me realize
that just like my flower plants, I just need a little pruning. Can I grow with these dead branches? Yes, for
a period of time. Can I still look good?
Sure. At least until the dead branches begin to overtake the living
branches. While I have to admit that there
are dead branches and leaves in my life, I also have to desire to have them
removed. Having a few dead leaves and
branches doesn’t make me dead. It just
means I need some pruning. I need to abide in Christ. John 15:5 records Christ saying “I am the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,
for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Allow Christ to prune you daily by abiding in Him. Continue to watch for sin that is becoming habitual---it
will become a dead branch if it hasn’t already and enough of these over time
will take over your whole body. Once
pruned Christ asks us to bear fruit. “By
this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my
disciples.” John 15:8
