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)

What kind of fruit are you producing? Jesus reminds his disciples, both then and now, that to be one of his disciples we must remain connected to him, the true vine, so that we might bear fruit that glorifies God. Jesus is not concerned about our religious acts of mercy and piety, such as, memorizing scriptures, spending time in prayer, or giving to the poor, but he reminds us that those things come as a result of deepening our relationship with him.

I know very little about gardening, but what I do know is that every now and then a vine needs to be pruned, or cutback in order to grow to its full potential. Each time I read this scripture, I can’t help but to think of all the things in my life that I need to allow God to prune. The good news is that I don’t have to rely on my on strength, but the scripture reminds us that “my Father is the gardener.” The thing about pruning is that the one who does the pruning has to have a vision of what the vine should look like. Simply put, the gardener sees the vine’s potential.

I am grateful that God, our heavenly Father, sees our potential. He looks beyond our faults, our failures, our shortcomings, and he sees what we could be and he starts working on us – pruning us, molding us, and shaping us to live at our full potential.

Grateful for The Gardener,

Pastor Cowser