I just spent the last hour-an-a-half pruning our nectarine tree. As I was cutting off non-producing branches and trimming back fruit bearing ones, I was thinking, “The tree must be screaming it’s head off.”
I know trees don’t feel, but it made me think about you and me as believers in Christ. The Spirit wants to cut off areas in our lives that are unproductive and trim back others to produce even greater amounts of fruit (see John 15).
Pruning is painful! Yet done by the hands of a skillful gardener, it’s very fruitful…for the next growing season. Pruning done in the winter is not for tree control; but to make the tree more productive during the next season. I’ll get a very low fruit yield come summer without it.
Trees can’t resist the pruning process. We can. When the Spirit points out an area of your life that needs to be removed, will you fight or yield to His skillful hands? Once you do, will you continually yield to Him throughout the process of change to see even more fruit in your life month after month, year after year?
I encourage you to take a walk with the Spirit and yield. It makes what the Psalmist wrote make even more sense, “Taste and see that the LORD is good.” How about tasting Him yourself?
Set Free Now“W”w