When pruning trees, it is important to have the right tool for the job

Today I was supposed to begin my promise to myself to begin exercising. I picked November 1^st because I know I will be increasing my food intake a few days before Thanksgiving and will continue with this indulgence way past Christmas. And because by selecting November 1^st as my start up day, I gave myself 2 weeks to delay a dreaded exercise regimen.  Knowing that if I moved today back even further I would never commit to exercising; I decided to take a walk. A very short walk (reading my new Beth Moore book on my porch and making pot roast were way more inviting) but nonetheless I bundled up and began day one of exercising. On my walk, I was distracted by the beautiful leaves and the bareness that was beginning to overtake the tress in my neighborhood. The further I walked (and trust me friends it wasn’t far) the more I appreciated the beauty of the seasons in WV and the delicateness and intricateness of trees.  

With the sun shining on my face and the leaves beneath my feet I inhaled the fresh air and more importantly, I inhaled the vision given to me many times by my God that I love so much. I am referring to the times God has used someone one in my life to give me a vision (prophecy) for His call on my life. The first time my life was compared to a tree I was 14 years old. I had just begun attending church and, although I had attended church as a child, every aspect of my church was new to me.  My knowledge of the bible was minimal, my exposure to upbeat worship was limited to people on TV, and I had never heard of much less witnessed the Holy Spirit. After attending the youth meetings on Wednesday nights for a few months and Sunday morning services occasionally; my mother took me to a Sunday evening service with an Evangelist. I don’t remember too much about the service except for the fact that the presence of the Holy Spirit scared me to death and I was convinced my mother had brought me to a cult. After the service was over and we were safely in the car, my mother ordered me back inside to get her bible. I don’t remember if I lost the bet with my sisters or if I offered myself as the one to go back inside to protect them from what I thought was danger lurking inside my church. As I was opening the door to my sanctuary, the very lady (Ruth Heflin an evangelist) who scared the life out of me was coming out of the sanctuary. I closed my eyes convinced this was the end for me. She didn’t cast a spell or breath fire but instead looked me straight in the eye and said, “Dear child God has a big job for you to do. You are a mighty oak tree among a dying forest and if you let Him, God will use you for mighty things.” She touched my shoulder and continued walking. Half shocked that I survived her encounter and half shocked at her words, I grabbed my mother’s bible and left. I now know that Ruth Heflin’s scariness was in fact the spirit of God working through her and I wish so much I could go back to that moment and have her place her hand on my should once again and embrace the Holy Spirit opposed to being scared of it. Despite my young mind and immature faith, I remember the significance of that moment twelve years later and it is just as powerful now as it was then.

I know not all of you have been compared to a tree throughout your spiritual walk in Christ and some of you may be as innocent as I once was to the Holy Spirit but we are all comparable to a tree according to God’s word. He tells us that we must remain in Christ in order to bear much fruit. Are your branches producing fruit for God’s harvest? Or are you holding onto dead branches? If a tree in nature has dead branches it’s because there is a lack in the source of nutrients it needs to thrive. A tree must have strong roots that suck up all the enrichment from the ground in order to yield life on its branches. We too, must ground our roots in Christ and suck from Him all of the essential nutrients we need in order to produce fruit and thrive in a dying forest of nonbelievers. All we need to survive this world comes from God; He is our gardener and we must allow Him to sustain us and prune us. When God starts pruning away the dead branches of your life; let Him. Anything that we hold onto that separates us from Christ must go in order for us to remain in Him. None of us would keep dried out smelly flowers when a fresh bouquet was waiting to replace them. So why would we hold onto dead branches when God is waiting to give us life to the fullest. With God as our gardener, we harvest more than a perfect peach dripping delicious juice with each bite; we harvest a soul to the kingdom of God. And trust me friends, when you watch someone you love or even watch a complete stranger accept Christ as their Lord and Savior there is nothing in this world more perfect or sweeter tasting.

Verse to remember: John 15:1-4  1 I(Jesus) am the true vine and my father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does not bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No fruit can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.