Pruned to Grow

Bible Reading: John 15:1-5

“Mom! What are you doing?” exclaimed Jaxon when he saw his mom standing beside a bush in the backyard. There were branches in a wheelbarrow and on the grass all around the bush. “Those are the bushes I helped you plant, remember?” Jaxon said. “I like them. Don’t cut them down!”

Mom laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m just pruning them.” After snipping another branch, she stepped back to survey her work. “These bushes are getting tall, Jaxon, but they’re not filling in near the ground. If I lop off their tops, they’ll fill in down low too—not just grow taller.”

“They will? Like those on the other side of the yard?”

“Exactly. Those are almost like a wall. They keep your little sisters inside the yard and keep other people from looking in.” Mom held up the tool she was using. “Haven’t you seen me use these before? They’re pruning shears.”

Jaxon glanced at it. “Yeah, I think I did see you cut some other stuff with that,” he said.

“Pastor Hunt talked about pruning at church last week,” said Mom. “It reminded me I needed to do some pruning in the yard.”

“Pastor Hunt said God prunes us, didn’t he?” said Jaxon.

Mom nodded. “I’m glad you were listening. Sometimes God cuts things out of our lives to help us grow the way we should. It can be painful, but He does it to make us more like Jesus so others can see His love.”

Jaxon looked at the shears again. “Do you think that’s why I got cut from the baseball team?”

“I don’t know—it’s possible,” said Mom. “I know you were disappointed, but maybe God wants you to grow in a different direction. Maybe there’s something else He wants you to do instead.”

“Well, I’ve been wanting to play ball in the church league, but I never had time because of baseball practice. Now maybe I can do that.”

“That would be great!” said Mom. “Pastor Hunt keeps telling me they could really use you on the church team.”

“And maybe Tommy could play too!” said Jaxon. “He also got cut from the baseball team, and he’s really bummed about it.”

Mom smiled as she threw another branch into the wheelbarrow. “It sounds like he could really use a friend.” -Rebecca L. Velez

How About You?

Is God cutting something out of your life? Is He using a teacher to remove a lazy attitude so you’ll look more like Jesus? Has He allowed a favorite activity to be canceled so you’d have time to reach out to someone who needs a friend? Pruning may be painful at times, but God is doing it because He loves you. Trust Him to use times of pruning to help you grow in your faith and show His love to others.

Today’s Key Verse:
John 15:2 He [God] prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. (CSB)

Today’s Key Thought:

God prunes to improve