
Crossroads is in a season of learning to embrace discipleship. At the heart of discipleship are two main building blocks: connecting with God, then growing as we follow him. Out of this, we love like Jesus and start to be others-centered. At Crossroads we simply say: connect, grow, and serve. Sounds easy enough, right?
It’s fun until the pruning.
Much of our journey revolves around our process of growth. Jesus often used agricultural metaphors to describe the process. Think crops. He talked about vines, fruit trees, seasons and cycles. Growth takes time as things move toward maturity and seed-bearing. In John 15, Jesus gives us the picture of this.
“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” (John 15:1-2 NIV).
We love the idea of bearing fruit. But we don’t necessarily love the pruning part. Another word for pruning might be discipline. Here’s what Hebrews says:
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11).
Do you see a connection between those two verses? What I see is that pruning or discipline is required if we want to bear fruit or produce a harvest! It may not be pleasant, but it is required as we grow.
I grew up on a small farm. My parents specialized in three main crops: strawberries, sweet corn, and apples. We had a small orchard that included a variety of apple trees and every year they had to be pruned. We had a yearly ritual of my parents pruning those trees, then my sister and I had to pick up the branches and load them up to be burned. Every year. If you didn’t prune them, the branches would produce fruit but wouldn’t be strong enough to handle the weight. Some years they would produce so many apples that the branches would simply break off!
I’m not sure how the trees feel, but I know how I feel when pruning comes- it hurts! As we have been talking about growth lately, I’ve also been thinking about how pruning is a natural part of growth. Here are some thoughts:
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Pruning doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong! It’s actually a sign of progress!
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Pruning helps us to be healthy. Sometimes an apple branch gets diseased and needs to be remove before the sickness spreads to the rest of the tree. As God prunes us, he may also be removing things that lead us away from him. It may be uncomfortable, but it is truly for our own good.
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The pruned branches were not wasted. Often the things that get pruned played an important role in our lives. For a tree, they helped gather sunlight to feed the tree. They served a purpose, but in order to maximize the larger purpose of producing fruit, they need to be removed.
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Pruning prepares us for next seasons fruit. Pruning is more concerned about long-term results. If you want more apples this season, you wouldn’t prune very much. However, pruning will produce more fruit over the next 10-20 years! When God prunes or disciplines us, we may not know “why.” We might not see immediate results and reasons for things, but we trust that he is a good Gardener. He tells us that we are pruned so that we can be even more fruitful.
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It’s hard to embrace pruning because it hurts! It’s helpful to remember you are not alone on this journey. Lean into relationships and let God remind you that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
From Peter's Blog: https://peterbales.substack.com.