Pruning the Branches

As I was doing my daily reading I happened across these verses in John 15. It was verses 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."

The more I thought about that verse the more it hit me. Pruning is not a pleasant experience. It involves removing the parts of the plant that are dead or dying. Just the other day at work I looked at the plant on top of my desk and I realized that there were quite a few dead leaves and stems on it. I gently went through and plucked off the bad leaves and cut of the dying stems in order to make my plant look better. Sucks to be the plant though. Think about it. Like when Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz picks the apple off the tree and the tree gets mad at her. I'm sure that if a plant could talk it would probably not like the fact that I was pruning off some of its parts. But then I looked at my plant later and after some water and pruning it sprung back to life and began to really blossom.

I mentioned all that to ask this question...What are some areas of your life that need pruning? When I look at my life I notice that I have a serious issue with food. That is a branch that I am going to need to prune and remove. There are other things in my life as well that prevent me from truly blossoming. The problem is (and I'm guessing that most of us have this issue from time to time) that pruning involves pain. It involves removing something from your life, and usually there is some pain involved. But the good news is when I look at my plant now, I can tell that the plant is far better off than it was before. Which means the same for me. If I allow God to walk through my life, my garden if you will, and remove the parts of my life that are preventing me to grow, there might be some pain, but in the long run it's better than the whole garden dying. I have to be willing to allow God in and allow him to prune the dying and diseased branches. If I don't then I will continue to struggle with my weight as well as spiritually in my walk with God. God is the Gardener, and he does not want me to have bad branches, especially when I am attaching myself to Christ, the Vine.

Lord, I ask you to walk through my garden. Prune away the parts of my life that are unhealthy. Help me to deal with whatever pain I might feel in the process, and help me to remember that in the long run the pruning process is necessary for me to grow closer to you.

In Christ name,

Amen