Life Spark: You can bring joy to God. (John 15:1-8)
My Grandpa Dixon had a farm with a cherry orchard and an apple orchard. He would let his kids and grandkids take his tall stepladder and fill buckets with cherries and boxes with apples.
I remember helping gramps cut off branches. We would prune the apple trees back every few years so they would produce bigger, tastier apples. I also remember cutting a limb off a fruitful cherry tree. The limb harbored a basketball sized nest of caterpillars that who gorged themselves on leaves.
I thought of helping Grandpa Dixon cut off those branches when I read John 15 recently: “…my Father is the gardener. 2 He 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.” (John 15:1a-2, NLT)
Notice “every branch of mine.” I wonder, was Jesus talking about Himself (as the vine), or the disciples (twelve branches, one of which was cut off)? Or did the branches represent all who claimed to follow Him, some of which bear no fruit? Or maybe the branches are components of our individual lives, some of which may need to be cut back or cut off.
So I may be a limb or I may be several limbs. Regardless, what kind of fruit is God the Gardener looking for in my life? I think it might be the fruit of the Spirit. “ … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22b-23a, NLT) That list of character traits sounds a lot like the character of Jesus. Grandpa expected apples from apple trees and cherries from cherry trees. God expects Christlikeness from Christians.
Nothing pleased gramps more than a bumper crop of cherries and apples. Nothing pleases God more than a bumper crop of Christlikeness from His branches. Knowing that reminds me to stay connected to Christ and to let God remove any caterpillar nests from my limbs. My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father. (John 15:8, TLB)
Life-challenge: Is there anything God would like to cut back or cut off in your life? Let Him.