The Pruning and Thinning of The Disciple of Christ

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.…
John 15:1-2

On any early winters day, go out to your nearest orchard and what will you see.  At first glance, it may look like madmen have attempted to destroy the trees.  Branches and limbs have been removed to the point of leaving the trees with what seems like the barest of form.  But, those who understand know, it is pruning time.

The good orchardist knows that in order to get the best crop he has to trim those trees down to their essentials.  He knows, by experience and training, exactly what should be removed and what should be kept, and in his mind he has a vision for those trees...and a hope for the crop to come.

In time, as the trees bud, bloom and begin to fruit, you will again see the orchardist move among his trees, thinning out the small and unessential fruit, spacing what remains in order to maximize its potential.

As the orchardist must pare their crop to ensure a harvest, so too, God is constantly at work in the life of His disciple, paring and pruning, shaping and thinning, removing that which hinders growth and/or diminishes the harvest He expects.

As the light of God shines upon us, He reveals those wasteful things that interfere with our progress into the image of Christ:  old habits of the past life;  ways of the flesh; and traits that hinder, such as impatience, resentment, doubt, fear, pride, envy.  All these things He prunes away or thins out by the ordering of events in our lives that both bring them to the surface and allow us the opportunity to shed them by way of repentant hearts and changed lives.  And if necessary, God may even enact His severe mercy and unilaterally remove things, even people from our lives, if they are interfering with our growth and fruitfulness...if they've become an idol in our life.

Pruning and thinning is never easy and often misunderstood.  But, don't try to explain it.  Don't try to defend it.  Those that know and love you and God, don't need the explanation.  Those that don't know you or God will never understand.

Do you feel as though you are being stripped and emptied...thinned out and pruned to the bone?  Rejoice!  God is at work in your life, removing all that distracts and diminishes, in order that you might one day know His abundant fruitfulness and experience a spiritual harvest of plenty.  Humbly submit...surrender to His loving hand and relinquish that which He desires to be removed.  Then, and only then, will you enjoy the bounty and fruitfulness He has planned and which your true heart desires.

God bless you thru your pruning and thinning times, looking ahead to the joy set before you in a bountiful, fruit-filled harvest.