YOU CAN BRING JOY to God.
My Grandpa Dixon had a farm with a cherry orchard and an apple orchard. It gave him pleasure to 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, gorging themselves on leaves.
Just recently, I thought of helping Grandpa Dixon prune those trees when I read John 15: “…My Father is the gardener. 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).
What does Jesus mean when He says “every branch of mine”? Was He talking about the 12 disciples and all who would claim to follow Him through the years? Or was He talking about individual branches or components of each of our lives, some of which may need to be pruned or cut off?
Exactly what kind of fruit is God the Gardener looking for in my life? It surely includes the fruit of the Spirit, detailed by Paul in his letter to the Galatians: “ …Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 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 followers of Christ. Nothing pleased Gramps more than a bumper crop of cherries and apples—and nothing pleases God more than a bumper crop of Christlikeness from His branches. Remembering that truth 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 prune back or cut off in your life? Let Him. The gain will be more than worth the pain.