My garden is flourishing right now. It’s a LOT of work to keep it healthy, but so worth it. It really would be lovely if we could just plant seeds and have them germinate and grow without being tended or requiring a LOT of effort, but that’s just not how this whole thing works, is it?
There are, of course, innumerable plants and other organisms that DO flourish without our attention. If you have ever foraged for mushrooms or berries you know that they grow and spread naturally, and do so very well. My vegetable garden, though? Not so much.
While there are a lot of components to a successful garden, today I’m pondering on the necessity of the art of pruning. The last couple of days have been spent taming the tomato jungle, clearing the cucumber canopy, and, well, squashing the spread of…wait for it….squash(please forgive the irresistible alliterations). You see, when growing veggies there comes a time that we need to make a decision – are we growing food, or are we growing foliage? The leafy splendor of an overflowing greenhouse sure is pretty, but it just doesn’t feed my family. If we want the plant to use its energy for creating food we MUST prune the foliage.
I’ll admit right off that I had let things get a little crazy – seriously, I COMPLETELY filled the green can, and haven’t tackled the green beans yet. As I worked the last few days plucking, trimming, and downright whacking off the overgrowth, I thought about how God prunes us.
Funny thing – when the garden of our life gets overgrown and neglected, it’s not because God was ignoring us. In John 15, Jesus tells us, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
As I look back through the filter of time and experience, I can see the times that I strayed and the garden of my life became overgrown. I allowed things like anger, bitterness, jealousy and even hate to flourish – great, big, leafy vines that threatened to choke off and kill the fruits God wanted for me.
God is SO good, though. When I came back to Him, He lovingly trimmed, plucked, snipped and, yes, whacked away what was keeping the good part from growing. He brought me into His light, fed me His Word, and blessed me with people who could help me understand. He who began this good work in me is faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6 promises it to be so!
Has there been a time in your life when you felt like you were being “pruned?”
What was removed, and what grew in its place?
My prayer for all of us this morning is that we are able to see the areas of our lives that need work, and that we will be able to allow God to do His work in us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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