When will God lighten up?!

You’ve bought the new home, finally unpacked all the boxes, and now it’s time to tackle the front yard.

Other than a simple green lawn, the only real project is the hedge, which you enthusiastically attack with your shears. Twenty minutes later you step back to inspect your artistic labor, and think pruning wasn’t so hard after all.

As time goes by, a little pruning keeps the artistic edge you’ve cut into the hedge. Maintenance is even easier than the initial pruning process. You’ve got plenty of time for a sweet tea and a good book in the hammock out back.

If only God’s pruning in our lives was so simple!

We tend to think God prunes away the wild growth in our lives just once, creating a “spiritual masterpiece” that only takes a little maintenance.

But that’s not how God operates.

John gives us some insight into how God continues to prune our lives throughout our lifetime for a specific purpose:

“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).

While we may initially be responsive to God pruning and shaping us to get us where we need to be, we want to “arrive” after the first take. But John highlights for us that God continues to regularly prune our lives “… so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Maybe you’re happy with the fruitfulness of your life today, but God will continue to prune your life so that you can become more fruitful.

What happens when you’ve become more fruitful?

God will again prune your life so that you become even more fruitful.

Once He’s done that, what happens next?

God will continue to regularly prune your life so that you become even more fruitful!

When does it all end?!

When we become like His Son.

Until then, become accustomed to the shears.

Scotty