PRAYER: Lord, help my branches to abide more fully in You. Prune my branches to conform to Your will for my life. Re-shape my life to bear good fruit that would glorify You and build Your kingdom.
Day 14 - Read John 15:1-9
How can I be a good steward? Maybe I need some pruning to cut back some overgrown areas of my life in order to bear better fruit for God’s kingdom. If you have ever grown grapes, then you will know that grapevines will naturally overextend themselves with prolific branching and leaf growth every year. If they are not pruned, all of the branching and leaf growth can completely cover an arbor in as little as two growing seasons. Unchecked growth, while great for covering up space, is terrible for bearing fruit. Such overgrown grapevines will bear tiny, unusable fruit—if it is able to bear fruit clusters at all. The extensive branching and leafing drain the resources and energy of the vine from its primary purpose: bearing fruit. Look at pictures of a well-kept vineyard whose purpose is to bear good fruit. You will see thick, decades-old grapevines pruned back to no more than four short branches so that all the energy of the plant is focused on growing great grapes.
Likewise, regular, heavy pruning is necessary for bearing good spiritual fruit. How overextended are the branches of your life? What have you branched out into? We often don’t realize how our branches have expanded as we try to cover all the bases in life. But in truth, such unmanaged growth can keep us from bearing eternal fruit. Ask yourself, “Where can I cut back so I can invest the time, energy, and resources available to me in order to bear the kind of good fruit in my life that matters?” Examine the pattern of growth of the branches of your life. How does this growth lead you to grow together with others in the ministries of the church? How does it help you serve one another in the ministries of the church?
No wonder Jesus says that God will prune our branches so that we bear much fruit.
ACTION ITEM
Make a list of areas in your life that are overgrown or branching into temporal things. What branches need pruning? What might these resources be better invested in?