The Beauty of Pruning

I just love rose bushes! The beautiful, bright blooms make me smile. The fact that I can just put the bushes in the ground and allow them to do what they do makes me grateful. Knowing my one-time investment will continue to produce and I can continuously have fresh cut flowers in my house makes me happy! The more I cut, the more roses the bushes produce. The more I cut, the more beautiful bouquets I get to enjoy. The more I cut, the more I get to bless other people. 

So many of us want to make the Father smile. We want to do what He created us to do. We want to be a sweet aroma to His nostrils. We want to be a blessing to other people. We want to be fruitful and multiply. But we don’t ever want to be cut.

Pruning is part of the process. There is no promotion without proper pruning. John 15:2 AMP says, “Every branch in [Jesus] that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that continues to bear fruit, He [repeatedly] prunes, so that it will bear more fruit [even richer and finer fruit].”

Do you want to produce more fruit? Richer fruit? Finer fruit? Then you’re going to have to be repeatedly pruned. Pruning may not always be pleasant, but it is always purposeful. Pruning may sometimes feel painful, but it is always productive. Pruning may not be our preference, but it is always pleasing to the One who prepared the plan for our lives.

If we think of pruning as a loss, then we’ll see it as something bad. But if we think of it as an opportunity to grow, develop, and have more to give, then we’ll be able to see the beauty of pruning.

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