Beauty From Pruning

“Beauty From Pruning”

By Zach Wood

John 15:1-2

This passage was part of the main text I used for Sunday’s sermon.  Jesus is very clear in telling us that if we are not connected to Him, we are not growing and receive no nourishment.  This is so clear and we need to take notice of this in our lives.  We all desire to grow, but when the pruning process takes place, we’d rather skip the pain and long for growth the easy way.  But, that is kind of contradictory.  How can we possibly expect to grow in our lives and not be pruned? 

Through the growing process, we live life and learn and make mistakes.  This is a part of our journey.  Mistakes are going to happen and we will fall down, but if we hang onto Jesus Christ and continue to stay connected to Him, He will prune us and help us grow more into the person He desires us to become.

There’s a book Max Lucado wrote many years ago that this passage brings to mind.  The book is “Just Like Jesus”.  The subtitle of this book reads “God loves you the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way.  He wants you to be just like Jesus.”  That hits the nail on the head!

God desires so much for our lives and it saddens Him when we don’t desire to grow.  If we want to grow in our faith and be strengthened, He must prune us so that we can bear more fruit.  Without this pruning and discipline, there will be no growth.  It’s painful, but produces not only fruit, but endurance. 

My prayer is that every one of us will allow Him to prune our lives so that we can bear more fruit.