Pruning

Sometimes I really wonder what I'm thinking when I volunteer for things or commit to new things. Shortly after joining my church here in NC, I agreed to teach the young adult Sunday school (as in...within 6 weeks of visiting for the first time). Now, this was huge because I hadn't regularly attended church in over 3 years. I'm not quite sure what they were thinking agreeing to let me teach. BUT...sometimes they best way to learn is to teach.

This past week, the lesson really stuck out to me. It hit close to thoughts I've been having and gave a Biblical basis to my thoughts. I guess God was helping me discern what he was already telling me.

John 15 shares the story of Jesus being the True Vine. Jesus provides us sustaining life such as the vine provides water and nutrients to the grapes. The story continues that God is the gardener. God removes the branches that bear no fruit, and prunes those that produce fruit.

Wait...God prunes his children. Pruning still involves cutting and trimming! That's painful! However, while I don't know much about gardening, I do know that pruning removes dead or sick parts of a plant to allow the good fruit and branches to grow and thrive. That is what God does for us. He prunes the things in our life that hold us back and make us spiritually sick. It might hurt at the moment, but it allows our True Vine to provide more nutrients to the healthy parts so that we bear more good fruit in the world.

I had already realized areas in my life that needed pruning. From still using alcohol as a coping mechanism some times, to knowingly fostering and seeking the wrong types of friendships, I still have a lot of room to grow in my Christian life. Lately, I've felt my depression slowly creeping back into my life. I think this is God's way of showing me that it's time for a pruning. Sometimes God prunes by force, but I think other times God opens our eyes so that we work with him. I'm beginning to make more conscious decisions about how I spend my time, who I spend it with, and how I cope with frustrations. It's a slow process, but it's time to prune the sick, damaging parts of my life out so that I can bear more of the good fruit!

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.
John 15: 1-2