Trimming Trees & Vines

I'm a tree person. I love looking at unique, unusual trees and limbs. I am blessed to have a huge oak tree in my back yard and a few other trees. But, the limbs have grown so long that they are almost touching the ground!


As beautiful as it can be, limbs that long can be dangerous. If we had a strong storm, these limbs could snap and cause damage to my house, or my neighbor's house. I don't want that to happen.

This reminds me of the parable Jesus told about the pruning of the grape vine. I think many people have misunderstood that story for years!

John 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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."

If you've never studied how grapes are cared for, this sounds like God will just cut you off and stop loving you. This is so far from the truth!

What I've learned from my Pastor is that if a branch isn't producing fruit, it is picked up, cleaned off, and connected closer to the vine. It's not cut off and thrown away. 

If you are a Christian, but not fully living for the Lord, He will pull you close and try to get you to live His way. Not a life full of rules and regulations. He wants you to love Him first, and love your neighbor as yourself.

If you are a Christian, living for the Lord daily, He will prune away things that might be taking your time away from Him. Maybe you will start waking up earlier, because He wants you to talk to Him and read your Bible. Maybe a TV show that you used to watch makes you feel bad now, so you decide to stop watching it. 

God loves you. He loves you so much that He will never cut you off and throw you away. But, He also won't let you sit around doing things that will keep you from Him. He wants to spend time with you. Have you prayed today?