A passage I find myself being drawn back to over and over again is John 15 - The Vine and the Branches. Each time I feel invited to sit with it, it seems there is something new for me to absorb. Lately it has been the first 3 verses:
"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken."
The pruning imagery is what got me this time. As I offer my branches to the Lord to be pruned, he asks me to name them as they are pruned. Two are snipped off, much to my relief. Then he draws my attention to a few other branches. He points out that they are connected to the vine and have their roots there, but have started growing in a direction that is not sustainable for the branch, nor in harmony with the other branches. Fruit that has not matured. Gifts I've been given that I have been trying to use independently from his purposes. For the good of the tree, the Farmer is ready to prune those branches. He has assured me that as these branches get pruned back, it will bring me closer to the Vine, and bear more and better fruit.
I hold out those branches to be pruned.
-Candice
1 comment:
Hi Candice - I just wrote about this passage on my blog too! That verse seems to be used over and over in our lives. I suppose this is b/c we will be forever pruned! thanks for sharing...
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