Shaping our character through faith and prayer is the subject of our contemplation this morning. A person of good character is a delight to the Lord and His presence in their lives leads them towards that goal.
All tagged pruning
Shaping our character through faith and prayer is the subject of our contemplation this morning. A person of good character is a delight to the Lord and His presence in their lives leads them towards that goal.
Are we bearing fruit for the Lord in His spiritual garden, and if we are, is it the healthy and robust fruit He expects of us? It is easy to begin our spiritual service to the Lord with an amazingly prolific harvest, but then, as the years pass by, to become complacent in our efforts. Some of us, by justifying our limited efforts, will produce just enough to get by while others will adorn themselves with beautiful greenery but yield no fruit at all. The first will be pruned back in an effort to increase the clusters of grapes they produce, while the barren green vines will be removed altogether. Where are we in our season? Do we produce in abundance? Do we give the Lord just enough to meet what we think He expects, or are we covering ourselves in fine rich greenery but adding nothing to the heavenly storehouses?
When all around us appears to be prospering; when spring is turning the landscape green, and the birds are returning with their morning songs to brighten up the day, it is especially easy for us to ask “Why me Lord?” when trouble and suffering comes to us. Yet spring is when the grape farmer prunes his vines, and clears the undergrowth from around them. This is when last year’s growth is removed to make way for a bountiful new harvest, and when those that didn’t produce fruit are cut down, dug up, and burned. If you are facing trials in your life you should rejoice because you are being prepared for a bountiful season ahead.
To be a vine in our Father’s garden means that we fall under His watchful eye, and the constant attention of His pruning. Nothing is gained unless something is left behind. No vine branches out and bears more fruit without the careful pruning of the vinedresser. How conceited we are to think that the vine, and its branches, are God’s sole focus, no, it is the fruit, and the beautiful flowers that the gardener desires; Passion fruit, Grapes, and the sweet taste of love.