“… every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:2, NASB)
Spring has sprung here in the South. I am sure that most of you noticed the beautiful azaleas and dogwoods in the background while watching the Masters last week. This is a glorious time of year where the dormant and pruned plants begin to flower and produce new growth.
It is fitting that Easter falls around this time every year, as if God is reminding us through nature of what he is at work in us through his Son, Jesus.
Look at John’s Gospel record of Jesus’ words: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).
How does new life and fruit come from something so dead and ugly, whether we are speaking of a vine cut to the barest wood or a life once live apart from God?
The answer is found in the power source. For grapes, this is the root of the vine. For us, Jesus works in our lives through the Holy Spirit, producing new, fruitful lives. His fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, [meekness], and self-control, according to Paul in Galatians 5. When we allow him to prune us, he promises to grow new, beautiful things in us that we cannot produce from our own efforts.
God is always faithful to produce new, fruitful growth in you when you trust him with the outcome.
Paul wrote more about this: “Since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him… So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, [meekness] and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:9-14).
Here comes the challenge—pruning hurts. It is not easy or comfortable. James the brother of Jesus wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
We all enjoy the beautiful and fruitful seasons of life, but have you accepted the process it takes to get there?
It is often painful or uncomfortable. We usually don’t look that attractive while we are going through the pruning seasons, but we can trust and take joy in the outcome as much as we can the fruitfulness of every spring. He guarantees to produce more fruit in our lives in the kingdom of God when we are submitted to him.
If you are enjoying this season of new growth, then I want to encourage you to welcome the season of pruning and dying when it comes. God is always faithful to produce new, fruitful growth in you when you trust him with the outcome, regardless of what it feels like now.
—
Josh Nelson
April 28, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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