Pruning

Jesus promises us that, if we bear good fruit, we will be pruned (John 15:2). We don’t often dwell on this scripture and, if we do think of it at all, we usually think of the pruning as removal of dead branches, the elimination of the useless, the impure, and what’s ultimately unwanted from our lives.

But that’s only one type of pruning. Pruning often involves removing perfectly healthy parts of a plant in order to direct its growth, increase its health and promote an even greater yield (the very goal Jesus talked about).

This means that, if we are producing fruit for the Kingdom, Jesus may remove even that which is good. This may result in loss of jobs, financial security, friends and even family. There may not be a problem with these things but God may prune them anyway because He has something even better in mind. Even if my job is not all-consuming, even if I do not have a love of money, even if I have a healthy, balanced and beneficial relationship with family and friends, even if I am growing in God and advancing His Kingdom – no, especially if these things are true – I may find that God prunes these things from my life so that I will grow even closer to Him and produce even more fruit.