Personal Pruning

In an earlier post I mentioned that we had been working in the yard and my husband was doing some much needed pruning to our shrubs and trees!

At first I was a little disappointed in how they looked. They weren't as pretty, lush and healthy looking to me as they had been just an hour or so before he started.

My husband assured me that it was necessary for the trees and shrubs to be trimmed back that much in order to stay healthy and produce later. He loves to remind me that when he was in high school that he worked for a landscaper...not to worry.

In the last couple of months my spiritual walk has resembled the trees and shrubs in my yard...being pruned. For the longest time I was really thriving in my walk, but recently something has been different and it has been a little uncomfortable. Recently I got to the point I was really tired, lacked motivation, and in a real spiritual slump!

Burned out from being over involved? Maybe. Was I producing fruit? No. Not at all! I had lost my focus about the real task at hand. What I noticed, is that it affected every part of me. Pruning was taking place.

John 15:1-2
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes
so that it will be even more fruitful."

When you think about it, pruning isn't comfortable. It's a painful process that involves cutting back and breaking away the dead that's keeping the branch from producing beautiful fruit.

Where are you right now in this process? Jesus promises us that if we remain in Him that we will bear much fruit.


Allow the Master Landscaper to do a beautiful work in you.

Ginger