Accelerating Growth and Productivity

John 15:2

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Jesus is the vine.  Our Father in heaven is the vine keeper.  We are the branches.  Every branch is examined by Our Father.  Every branch that is not producing fruit because it does not draw what it needs from the vine is allowed to wither away.  Every branch that is producing fruit is pruned so that it may draw closer to the vine and its production may increase.

Because we are born with no attachment to the True Vine, we have no hope of bearing fruit.  The Father in heaven is a wise husbandman.  In His mercy and loving kindness, He provides a way for us to be grafted into the True Vine.  Through His grace, He insures that we can draw from the essential elements of the Vine.

Nature provides a good example of this harvesting process.  Most of the seeds that are planted in a cutting garden become beautiful flowers that need to be pruned regularly by the gardner.  The regular pruning insures the health of the plants and stimulates additional growth and productivity for each plant.

So it is with us.  We were given new life in the body of Christ by Our Savior.  The Holy Spirit takes on the role of the gardner, pruning away all of the sin from our old lives so that we may grow in Christ and produce much fruit for His kingdom.  

Let us submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Let us surrender to the pruning process that will allow us to reach the fullness that Almighty God has planned for us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for grafting us into Your kingdom through the sacrificial work of Your Son.  We rejoice that You have sent the Holy Spirit to help us to overcome the sin that we inherited and continues to rise up against us as we seek to live as new men and women in Christ.  We pray, Father, that You will provide the inspiration that we need to submit to the Holy Spirit and the strength that we need to stand against the enemy who comes to steal our fruit.  Through Your grace, may we see a full harvest from our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the True Vine, Jesus Christ.