John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser . . .every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
I know next to nothing about gardening, but my neighbor, Ms. Sandy, is a fantastic gardener. She can grow beautiful and delicious things. Nearly every time we talk I learn something about how to cultivate plants. And it was Ms. Sandy who helped me understand this wonderful verse. She showed me the purpose of pruning.
We see in this passage that Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (15:5). We grow out of Christ. Our life is in and from Christ. If we are separated from Jesus we shrivel up spiritually and die.
God the Father is the vinedresser, the gardener, and that means he is the one with the pruning shears. Gardeners prune plants to remove the unhealthy parts and to make room for even healthier growth. Who does he prune? Those branches who bear fruit. So if we are drawing life from Christ and our lives are showing public fruit (Christian character and courage, gospel witness, perseverance, sacrificial love, etc.) then we can expect to be pruned.
Often we feel like the difficulties we face in the Christian life are evidence of God’s displeasure. They seem like punishment or abandonment. In reality, they very well might be God pruning us so that we can bear more fruit. So our difficulties and suffering are evidence that God is pleased with us and has even greater plans for us. He sees our life in Christ, smiles on it, and prepares us for even more.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
