The Pruning

John 15:1-8 (NLT)

¹“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  ⁵“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

As I read these verses out of John 15, a word picture began to develop. Earlier this week I noticed that my peace lily was looking really bad. It had a lot of leaves that were either dead or beginning to die. I knew that I needed to prune it to keep the entire plant from dying. We have had this plant so long that it is like one of our babies.

This is not just some ordinary peace lily that I purchased to liven up our home. We got this peace lily from my husband’s grandfather’s funeral seventeen or eighteen years ago. There have been many times over the years that I just knew it was on its last leg and we would have to lay it to rest; but every time it looked like that, I took care to prune it back. This involves cutting off every leaf with even the slightest discoloration on it. Of course I cut off all of the leaves that are obviously dead, but I also cut off any leaf that is half-brown. I don’t stop there. If the leaf looks a little yellow, I cut it off. If it looks like the tip is getting brown, I cut it off.

By the time I finish pruning the peace lily, there are usually only about ten to fifteen good leaves left. The pot looks huge compared to the size of the plant, but it’s not what I can see on the outside that really matters. What matters is the well-established root system. You see, the roots are strong enough that when I cut off the dead leaves, the roots can produce new tender shoots that spring up into a beautiful plant. Every time I have pruned the plant back like this, it always ends up looking beautiful. But alas, life happens, we forget to water the plant, forget to prune the sucker leaves, forget the plant exists, and we end up with the sickly plant that I was faced with this week.

Wednesday I decided to prune the plant. I carefully removed every bad leaf that I could. This left us with a tiny plant in a huge pot. The most amazing thing happened, though. When my hubby arrived home from work that night, he sat down on the couch, looked over at the plant and exclaimed, “Oh, wow, you trimmed the plant. That really looks much better.” You see, even though it looked pitiful in size, it already looked healthier. Amazingly, I looked at the plant this morning, and there are already six new tender shoots. I also noticed two leaves that were starting to turn brown, and the stalk that they are attached to have not produced any new leaves.

You see, this experience with the plant is a perfect picture of John 15. Verse 2 reminds us that He cuts off the branches in us that do not bear fruit, but this principal doesn’t stop there. Verses 4-5 remind us that once we are pruned, we must remain in Christ in order to produce fruit just as I must continue to care for the plant daily. I have to check to make sure all of the leaves are healthy so I can cut out anything that has any unhealthy area. When I do so, the rest of the leaves will thrive. When I don’t take care of the unhealthy leaves, they will choke out the healthy leaves that remain.

Without Him, we cannot accomplish anything. When we do not live for Him, verse 6 tells us that we are as useless as the branch that has been cut off to wither, gather into a pile and burn. Remember the leaves I removed from the peace lily? I threw them away. If I were to look at them now, they would certainly be withered. If there were enough of the dead leaves, it would be a worthwhile endeavor to pile them all up and burn them.

Another amazing principle found in John 15 is that when we allow Him to prune us as we truly follow Him daily, especially when we have been wandering out on our own, He begins to clean us up! Just like our peace lily that showed a marked, physical improvement as noted by my hubby after the severe pruning job, God makes our external lives look better when we follow Him and allow Him to prune our lives. Sure we may not have all of the fruit in our lives just as our peace lily now looks smaller, but His fruit will begin to grow and shine in our lives as we follow Christ. Let’s walk with Him today!

In His Grace!