John 15:1-2 What kind of fruit do you produce?

Jesus said He is the “TRUE” vine. And He is!  He said the Father will prune the branches, that are us, we who follow Christ.  He will prune unproductive branches that bear poor fruit and will cut off branches that bear no fruit at all.  We as Christians have a dilemma.  We must produce fruit and if we do not we will be pruned.  There are no exceptions.  I know that some feel that they have arrived in the center of God’s will and need no more attention to their fruit bearing, but Jesus says that it is an ongoing process.  If we bear fruit He will prune us so we can bear much richer fruit.

Let me ask:  Have you felt God’s pruning hook lately?  Have you prayed for the pruning hook to be used so you can bear better fruit?  If not, why not? 

Let’s look at “LOVE.” We start out with the kind of love that is self-centered.  Everything for me and I am the center of all attention.  As we grow older we find out that the world is made up, chiefly, of other people, some worthy of our love and others not so worthy.  When grafted into the “TRUE VINE” we experience the kind of love that is expected of us in Christ.  Now we are traveling to the other end of the spectrum, where we love all humanity and want to share with anyone the love God has shown us.

Along the way, we feel we are entitled to a mild relapse, and we begin not to love as we should.  God comes with his pruning hook and prunes us so we get back on the track to “perfect love,” so we can be more like Him.  What does it feel like when God is pruning us?  Believe me it is not easy to have the Father prune us in the Love category.  We are shown how selfish we have been and we need to go to that person or group of persons and ask forgiveness for bearing the wrong fruit toward them.  It could be family members, or relatives, or friends or even strangers.  It is far better to love the unloved, than to go back and ask forgiveness.

I had my car repaired at a dealership.  I was in a hurry!  I needed to get out of there because of some meeting or appointment that I thought, at the time, was very important.  I spoke harshly to the cashier about how slow the repair had been.  God didn’t say anything right then to bring me to my senses.  I left in haste and did whatever it was I was going to do.  I knew that I was justified in what I had said what I did, to the little girl taking the money.

Several days later I was driving by the dealership and was suddenly alarmed with conviction that I had had the wrong attitude and spoken too harshly.  I tried to shrug it off but every time I went by the dealership I felt the same sting in my heart.  One day as I was passing by, about a weeks later, I was tired of the struggle and I pulled in and went to the little girl and asked her forgiveness for being so sharp and acting like I did.  She said, “It doesn’t matter, I get that all the time.”  I replied, “It really matters to me and I want you to know how deeply sorry I am for that incident.  I know better and I shouldn’t have spoken to you in that way!”  I left the dealership, not with joy in my heart, but remorse that I had to be pruned so that I could bear better fruit.  It hurt and it has become a guard to my heart not to speak in that manner to anyone ever again.

How can we be pruned if we don’t feel the pruning hook of God?

Just a thought!
Jerry