At this time of year gardeners are busy at work - planting, digging, fertilizing, pruning and watering. Some of you love to garden
and some of you could care less. I personally like the results of a gardener, but I am not much of one. I can prune bushes, but
some would say I’m a “hacker”. God is the Master Gardener as He created and made all the plants. However, more importantly,
He is our Spiritual Gardener.
John 15 speaks of vines, branches, fruit and the Gardener.
“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every
branch in me that bears no fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
John 15:1 & 2 Jesus is the vine and we are the
branches that are connected to Him. As branches we should be roducing spiritual fruit such as faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. God prunes us, teaches us, and encourages us so that
we might be more fruitful.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4 & 5 Obviously, a branch cut off from the vine will not bear any fruit, and so we can
only bear fruit by remaining connected to Jesus. To remain in Jesus is to live in the sphere of Christ, it is to continue in the
faith, and it is to abide or dwell in the house of Christ. We remain in Jesus through His Word (the Bible), prayer, and fellowship.
Remain in Jesus – Allow the Father to do some pruning!
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