The Pruning Process

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² 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. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

⁵ “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. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

John 15:1-6

Growing up, I watched my mom garden for hours upon hours and always have a beautiful, flourishing garden. I remember thinking to myself, “One day when I get married and have my own home, I’ll have a beautiful garden too.” Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit a “green thumb.” No matter how hard I tried, every plant I ever owned would die, proving my thumb was in fact, “black.”

When Rob and I got our first home, much to my delight, there was a beautiful magnolia bush in the backyard, with tons of fragrant white flowers on it. I loved to sit out there and just breathe in its sweet fragrance. Eventually, however, the bush had gotten so overgrown, that it was not only starting to block the opening of our gate, it wasn’t getting the proper nutrients and thriving as it should. I got the bright idea one day that I would prune it back myself. Bad idea! I knew nothing about pruning. Not realizing there was a certain season to prune, or even a certain place to make the cuts, I just cut away and away and away.  I was actually quite happy with myself until my husband came home and enlightened me. Having done landscaping when he was younger, he realized my error right away. He informed me that I had damaged the tree by improperly pruning it. And he was right because it took three whole years before even just one flower bloomed on that bush, and then there were only a few tiny flowers; unlike the abundance of healthy blooms it once displayed. I was so sad, but I learned a valuable lesson. 

John 15 is a popular passage of scripture where most often we tend to focus on the “bearing much fruit” portion of these verses, and gloss over the equally important “being pruned” portion. I get it. Who wants to focus on being pruned? We must realize, however, that we’ll never bear the fruit God wants us to unless we go through that pruning process. It’s important to understand that God prunes us because He loves us. He wants to remove the things from our lives that prevent us from flourishing. It can seem painful when we’re going through the pruning process, and may even feel like we’re going through it alone, but know this, God is closer to us than ever during the pruning process.  

Pruning is vital. As I saw with my magnolia bush, a plant neglected or even pruned incorrectly, just won’t thrive. Like that fateful day I picked up the pruning shears, we often take the matters of our lives into our own hands too. We want to avoid pain, so we try to fix what’s broken – make things right. But we can’t clean up our own mess. We need the help of the Vinedresser. And yes, while there is pain in the process, there’s also beauty in the process. The Vinedresser lovingly walks us through the process, snipping away what steals life from us, so that life-bearing fruit can come forth. 

Have you ever seen a gardener prune a plant? They take their time, touching it, examining each part, and making cuts in just the right places, all to benefit the plant. Pruning makes the plant healthier and more fruitful, and the gardener knows this. Gardeners take joy in seeing their plants flourish. It’s the same with us. Jesus lovingly prunes our lives, because He wants us to flourish in ways we never even imagined possible. He wants to accomplish things in and through our lives, that will not only bless us but those around us. 

Remind yourself of this when you’re going through the pruning process. Picture the gardener I described above, who lovingly tends the plant with perfect care and precision. Imagine your Heavenly Father, the Perfect Gardener in your life, enabling you to flourish even more than before. Many times God uses the difficulties in our lives as a pruning session. Why?  Because difficulties tend to cause us to pause and look inward. When things aren’t working as we think they should, we’re forced to examine our hearts and seek God for a solution. Most often the solution is more pruning. God wants us to let go of the things that we hold on to – things that bring us false comfort, security, and peace. Only God can give us those things. Our crutches will only hurt us, and keep us from flourishing as we should. What are you going through right now that seems so impossibly difficult? Ask the Lord what He is trying to prune from your life. Seek the Holy Spirit and allow Him to show you the areas you need to surrender to Him?

We all want a life that produces good things – a fruitful life. Jesus tells us that by staying connected to Him, the True Vine, our lives will be fruitful. I love how the Living Bible says it in verse 4,

“Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.”

It doesn’t get any clearer than that. We NEED to be connected to the Lord. We can’t go day in and day out living disconnected from God, expecting to have a fruitful life. Our fruit comes from our connection to God. As someone who has a good amount of determination, I can accomplish a lot of things. Maybe you feel the same, yet, all we accomplish will be based on “self,” and “self” has limits. With God, however, there are no limits. God is not looking for what we can do in our natural ability, but what HE can accomplish through us, as His vessels here on earth. With God, we can do things we could never do on our own. God expects our lives to be fruitful. As the Master Gardener, He’s looking for the harvest in our lives; and we should be too. A life that bears fruit, is the mark of a true disciple of Christ. Friends, let’s commit to stay connected to Jesus, and hold on even tighter to Him when going through the pruning process. Jesus promises we’ll not only bear fruit; but we’ll bear much fruit; and any fruit from God is sure to be gloriously beautiful.