Get out your pruning shears! According to horticulturalists, spring is the best time to prune a tree so that it maintains its structural integrity. You’ll want to trim it back before the growing season—nip it in the bud, so to speak. Failure to do so will produce a gangly tree that is prone to come crashing down during a storm.
In Christ’s illustration of the vine and the branches, he talks about how the owner of a vineyard ensures a bumper crop by getting rid of unfruitful branches and by pruning the fruitful ones.
“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit]” (John 15:2, AMP).
If you are going through a time of pruning in your life—if it seems that every comfort is being stripped away—rejoice that you are found worthy of pruning. By the grace of God and power of the Holy Spirit, you are bearing fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22,23). Getting more of those things in your life—have you ever prayed for patience?—requires the painful process of pruning.
Now is the best time for God to prune you. As the heavenly harvest approaches, now is not the time to allow self-control and faithfulness to wither. Instead, may the Lord produce in you a bumper crop of peace that will weather any storm.
