Let God Prune Your Life - The Crosswalk Devotional - July 11
Let God Prune Your Life
By: Whitney Hopler
Bible Reading:
“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
Walking through a botanical garden, I noticed a pile of green stems, branches, and buds that had been cut off various plants and scattered on the ground. It seemed at first like someone had vandalized the garden. Just as I started to get angry about what I thought was a crime, I noticed a gardener at work farther down the garden path. He was cutting off parts of plants on purpose! That reminded me that pruning is actually healthy for plants, no matter how hard it may look for them to be cut. Gardeners prune plants to give them the energy and space they need to bloom fully. Pruning helps plants reach their full potential.
Jesus reveals in John 15:1-2 that God prunes people. God cuts off what isn’t healthy and productive in our lives and gives us the help we need to be as fruitful as possible in our lives.
In the plant world, a vine only has a certain amount of sap to give to its branches. If that sap is sent to 50 different tiny branches, none of them will produce big, juicy grapes. They will all be small and struggling. But if the gardener cuts those 50 branches down to five, all the energy from the sap will go into those five branches. The result will be fruit that’s healthy and sweet.
The same is true for your soul. You only have so much energy. If your schedule is cluttered with too many activities, your limited energy will be spread so thin that you’ll become exhausted. You’ll be busy but not fruitful in the way God intended. Even though you’ll be doing a lot, you won’t be accomplishing what matters most from God’s perspective. That can all make your spiritual life feel like a wilted plant. You’ll feel burned out and unable to connect with God in the ways that will help your soul bloom fully.
Sometimes, God asks you to step away from things that are clearly unhealthy. It’s easier to do that than to step away from good things God sometimes leads you away from, like a job that pays well but pulls you away from your primary calling, or a friendship that you’ve outgrown. When God prunes parts of your life, he does so because he wants to give you more blessings – but first, you need more space in your life to receive those blessings.
Pruning can hurt. It can feel like you’ve lost an important part of your life, or even an important part of who you are as a person. But remember who the Gardener is. It’s your loving Heavenly Father, who has good purposes and plans for you. God doesn’t just hack away randomly; he prunes precisely what’s best for you to grow to reach your full potential.
When God prunes your life, he’s clearing the way for a season of growth that you can’t even imagine yet. He wants your life to be like a beautiful garden that fulfills you and pleases him as he sees his good design for your life become a reality. You need to cooperate with God for that to happen, however. It’s vital to be willing to let go of whatever God wants to prune out of your life.
So, take an honest look at your life right now. What’s taking the energy away from your relationship with God? Let the Master Gardener do his work to prune it away so you can grow and thrive!
Intersecting Faith & Life:
As you consider how pruning is important for you to grow to reach your full potential, reflect on these questions:
- If you looked at your schedule as a garden, which areas feel the most overgrown or crowded right now?
- What’s one unhealthy activity you can prune out of your schedule this week to make more room for something that will help you grow closer to God?
- What’s one activity in your life that’s good but still might be keeping you from experiencing God’s best? How can you let go of it to make room for something better?
- When you feel God pruning something away from your life, how can you resist the urge to grab onto it and instead trust God to take it away?
- What kind of fruit of the Spirit (like patience, kindness, or peace) do you want to see more of in your life this season?
Further Reading:
Hebrews 12:11
Proverbs 3:5-6
Galatians 5:22-23
Isaiah 58:11
Philippians 1:6
How did today’s devotional speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Crosswalk Devotional discussion.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Nikola Jovanovic
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