"He is pruning
you"
The more you carefully read and
consider the exclusive discourse of Jesus with his followers in John !3:1-17:
the more you come to realize the role of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit in bringing up the believer to the place of usefulness.
In John 15, the Lord Jesus gave
a realistic example of how the Father is periodically and systematically
bringing up and making the believer capable of bearing fruits. This is a bottom
line of becoming a disciple who is able and qualified to bear fruits at all
times.
Three decades ago, Yekepa,
an iron-ore mining city located high in the mountains of eastern Liberia was
noted for its beauty. The iron ore mining company, LAMCO that built this city
gave each laborer and staff free housing and utilities. But each employee was
instructed to maintain the beauty of his yard by taking good care of the flower
plants in his yard. Consequently, every junior and senior staff employed a yard
garden boy for trimming the flowers. Yekepa then became the most beautiful city
in Liberia.
Christians are the branches
of a fruit tree belonging to God in His back yard. He does not want to employ any garden boy for pruning this
all important fruit tree in his back yard. God Himself wants to prune us so
that His kingdom will remain neat and populated with the beauty of his
holiness.
In the opening statement of
John 15, the Lord Jesus introduced Himself as the True Vine and His Father as a
Vinedresser. The plants in the garden are quite exposed to the owner of the
garden. He knows the condition of each plant and knows how to take care of it.
He trims off the partially disconnected, withered, fruitless branches and
prunes or cleans around the potentially fruitful branches in order for them to
be neat and ready for bearing fruits. Some half-hearted believers are so
carelessly naïve that they overlook the primary plan of the Father for their
lives. They are working toward making names for themselves overnight while some
are craving for fame. But the name and the fame belong to our Father who alone
can wane us (The act or process of gradually declining or diminishing.) to
becoming fruitful for His glory.
The carelessness of such men
who refused to be spiritually minded leads to the Father trimming them off.
This is what Paul was talking about in Romans 1:18 "For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness". I believe this passage is referring to
nominal, fruitless 'Christians' whose daily inordinate activities or sinful
behavior warrant their being trimmed off by the Father. They have refused to
remain in the true vine, Jesus Christ. They have habitually and routinely
desire to live for themselves, disconnected from the true vine thus abusing
God's plan and order for their lives. Recognition of the main vine and seeking
to remain in Him is the only solution. Those who willingly continue to go away
and refuse to submit the pruning process of the Father have to be trimmed off.
Paul continued in Romans 1:24, 26, 28 that God gave such people over to their
own fleshly desires. This is the difference between trimming off the branch and
pruning it for fruits. The contrast of carnality and spirituality is seen here.
Romans 8:6, "To be carnally minded is death"; trimmed off the True
Vine. This is the bad news that Jesus is warning us against that it may never
be our portion. The following is God's plan for your life as you submit to the
appeal of the Holy Spirit through God's word, " but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace"; pruned by the Father to bear fruits.
May the Father prepare you
as the branch in Jesus Christ to be able to bear fruits.
Lord prune me as a branch in
your Son, the true Vine.
Pastor Benjamin Tomah -
International Bible Church - Liberia & Cote d'Ivoire Africa. January, 2003