“He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”
John 15:2 NLT
Common knowledge tells us that the best things in life take time. If we want to do something special in our lives, it most certainly will not be something that will happen quickly. If we want to build a successful business, it takes years to bring it to fruition. If we want to build children of character it will take some time before we see that develop in their lives. A long and successful marriage takes time to build and to grow. Even fine wine takes time to come to its full maturity.
Our walk with our Lord takes some time to come to maturity as well. We have to tryout our relationship with Christ through some tough times to find out he is indeed the real deal. Our verse today states that we go through some pruning in our lives so that we can produce the fruit of the kingdom. Don’t think you are being punished when you get trimmed back a little. No, it is a growth process that God uses to improve and mature us. He does so out of love!
When we fail, and we all do, God is going to use that failure to trim up your life so we can be more productive and successful in our efforts. Getting it right sometimes isn’t as important as being lovingly prepared for our future by our Father. In the end we will be made perfect by his great love and grace. In the mean time, know he is working on us to make us like Christ.
In Christ
RJ