Pruning (part 1) Knowing How

John 15:2 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.

There is a lot of emphasis put on being productive in our culture. I guess staying busy and accomplishing things makes us feel needed or even important. But all things must be balanced whether we acknowledge it or not. If production is all we focus on then we are missing something—even devaluing it. And this leaves us out of balance.

Many would say that the opposite of being productive is relaxing, and in some circumstances maybe it is. But for today, let us consider the opposite of producing to be pruning. Each year brings new growth, but that growth will be enhanced by pruning. Learning how and when to prune is an art. Personally, I have always found pruning to be intimidating. My ignorance makes me reluctant to trim anything. I do not want to make a mistake. Much like my fear of saying the wrong thing in one of these devotions, I fear that I will cut the wrong branch, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

Knowing whether to prune before new growth begins or right after a bloom is important to the long-term health and production of the plant. If we prune at the wrong time, we can cut off next year’s blooms. If we don’t deadhead faded blooms, we get fewer new blooms. We will lose the beauty. We will lose the harvest. But even more importantly, we will lose the seeds of the next generation. Rampant growth on some plants leads to destruction when the limbs become so heavy the tree splits in half. In other plants, production dwindles as lack of care chokes the plant.

Deciding what to keep and what to remove takes insight. Some plants break from old wood, others do not. Knowing what is going to bud and where takes study and understanding. I confess that I am guided by my intuition almost always. That is a nice way of saying I fly by the seat of my pants more often than I would like to admit. There is a not-so-fine line between going with the flow and being a completely unprepared fool.

In following the Way of Christ, I like to think that I am guided by the Holy Spirit in the moment. But if I have not put the time in quietly listening, learning, studying, and being guided by the Word, then I am kidding myself that in a noisy, busy situation I will hear the Spirit in my heart guiding me. What a fool I would be! But learning when and how to prune is the first step in becoming a disciple of Christ.

Let us pray.

Lord, show us the ways of your seasons. When we work in your garden, allow us to learn the ways of Christ. Teach us when to prune and when to nurture. Give us insight to know how to become productive for years to come. Help us to grow in abundance and yet know when to prune away what is no longer needed. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Joey Smith.

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