I'm thinking today of John 15, 2, in this verse, among others in this area of the Bible,
Jesus is preparing his disciples for a time when he will no longer physically be with
them.
And he says this, he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
Obviously, this is sort of a vineyard analogy going on here, and pruning means cutting away
the dead stuff, the dysfunctional stuff.
And so if we restated this verse with the words Jesus and God the Father in there, it
would say every branch that is in Jesus that does not bear fruit, God the Father takes
away.
And every branch that bears fruit, God the Father prunes it so that it may bear more
fruit.
Basically, it's this, get in, bear fruit, get pruned, bear more fruit.
He adds us, he prunes us, he adds the increase.
And it strikes me that this is about what he does more than anything else.
Praise God.
He adds us, he prunes us, he adds the increase.
Now you may be going through some really difficult stuff right now, and I get that.
It's terrible.
We do some of the things I've seen people go through that I've gone through in my life,
my family's gone through whatever.
Pretty bad stuff.
But please allow that it may be some of the pruning that God is using to make you even
more productive for him in the future.
You'll be able to encourage someone who's going through the same kinds of things that
you went through in the past because you stuck with Jesus throughout.
And if you die, I forbid, you'll be in heaven with Jesus.
But if you don't die, you'll still be able to be here and you can bear more fruit.
Praise God.
He's at work.
He prunes us, he prunes us, he adds the increase.