God’s Pruning of the Branch

There is nothing like the beauty of God’s creation! Sitting on the porch, I enjoy listening to the birds, as they praise and watching the trees gently blow in the breeze. And, I love the beauty of flowers in full bloom, especially roses. Nothing is more beautiful or smells as lovely as a rose and caring for my roses has helped me to better understand the importance of being connected to the vine. Three years ago, I planted two rose bushes; a pink and a yellow one. They were small when we dug the holes and tenderly planted each one in a full sunny spot in the flower bed. I didn’t know much about caring for roses and honestly didn’t’ think they had much chance of survival with my brown thumb. But, they liked the direct sunlight and they have grown and bloomed…mostly.
Then, last spring, both bushes had many dark brown areas on the branches. Those dark spots were in places where roses and leaves used to be. I started to worry.

I wouldn’t call myself a gardener, but I realized that the trees weren’t thriving. And, I thought I knew why. I made a big mistake by not pruning the rose bushes (or any other bush). I had heard that you needed to be very careful pruning roses and that they needed to be pruned at a specific time of the year. So, I was afraid to cut or prune the bushes. I was afraid that I would  kill the entire tree by cutting it the wrong way or at the wrong time. Now, I had allowed the branches to get unhealthy and they were beginning to affect the entire bush. I had to do something or I was going to lose both bushes.
     So, I did what any brown-thumbed gardener would do. I researched how to prune a rose bush. Google is awesome! Just like I thought, there is a best time for pruning. But I was amazed to read that anytime was good if the branches were dead. It didn’t take more than one look to know that my branches were dead! I headed to Home Depot to buy gloves and pruners. Then, I began cutting branches off of the bushes. The more I pruned, the easier it was to see the brown, dry, dead looking branches in contrast with the green, healthy ones. There were more dead branches than I thought. There were a lot of dead branches that were hidden under the healthy branches.

In John 15:1-8, Jesus uses the analogy of a vine and branches to help us understand pruning. He explained that He is the vine and the Father is the gardener (John 15:1). Jesus said, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes” (John 15:2, NIV). Just as I cut the branches that were dead and didn’t produce flowers on the rose bush, God cuts off the branches that are dead and are not producing fruit. These are people who are not true followers of Jesus and are therefore not connected to Him. The branches must be connected to the Vine to receive life and to produce fruit. A flower that isn’t connected to the tree, will begin wilting. As such, a person not connected to the Vine is spiritually dead. The Father prunes every branch that produces fruit so they will produce even more fruit. Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8). We should be growing in the Fruit of the Spirit. And in this passage Jesus focuses on one in particular…love. Jesus reminds his followers to remain in His love and that obedience is evidence of His disciples’ love for Him. In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

What needs to be pruned for you to bear more fruit? What needs to be removed for you to be more loving? The branches that I pruned were dead, dry, ugly, and damaging the tree. It is the same with us. God’s pruning is for our benefit. We have things in us that are dead, dry, and ugly. Things like, judgement, pride, unforgiveness, deceit, and more. These thoughts and attitudes make us dry and ugly. And, they steal our energy, making it difficult for us to grow and produce good fruit. They affect our well-being and our relationship to the Vine. God tenderly cuts out the things that are not good for us. He prunes those thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors that prevent us from staying connected to Jesus and from producing fruit for the Kingdom of God. Receiving a pruning, even if needed, is often painful. Just as the dead branches remained attached to the rose bush, it is difficult for us to part with that which needs to be pruned. The dead branches remained on the rose bush for a very long time. They remained until I cut them. Unfortunately, our negative attitudes, behaviors, and thoughts have also been with us a long time.                                
Before I pruned my rose bushes, the energy and nutrients absorbed by the roots was wasted on the dry, dead branches and flowers. I took care to plant them in the sun and to water them, but the trees couldn’t produce flower buds or healthy branches because there was nothing left to give. When we’re wasting energy on dead branches, we don’t have any time or energy left to produce fruit. God cuts off the dead, energy-sucking branches. He prunes anything that threatens to come between us and our life-giver. Pruning must occur, so that the most energy is available to bear beautiful fruit.
Interestingly, as I began pruning the pink rose bush I began to notice more and more branches that needed to be pruned. It looked as if I should have cut half of the bush down! As I cut branches down other dead branches were exposed. Branches that were hidden behind others became visible. God is the Master Gardener. He already knows every area within us that needs to be pruned. Nothing is hidden from Him. As we are pruned, we can see new areas of growth, as well as areas that need the Gardener’s tender attention. Our Gardener is patient and compassionate. He doesn’t cut too much at one time. God works on specific areas and allows us to see the beautiful fruit of each pruning. After just two weeks, my rose bushes have beautiful new leaves and buds, reminding me that the pain of the pruning is worth the beauty!