Why God Prunes

Jesus said, “Every branch that continues to bear fruit, He repeatedly prunes, so that it will bear more fruit.”

Pruning is part of fruitfulness.

In Israel, many grapes grow close to the ground. Large grapevine trunks can rest on the ground, propped up by rocks. As the branches bear fruit, the clusters can lie against the stony soil. They get dirty. They can even burst under the weight of resting on the rocks.

The vinedresser cuts, lifts, and cleans them so the fruit can mature the right way.

That picture matters. God is not careless with your life. He knows what needs to be lifted. He knows what needs to be cleaned. He knows what needs to be cut away so the fruit in you can mature.

The Lord prunes the things that distract, damage, and create false comfort. That pruning can touch relationships, places, attitudes, thought processes, and actions.

This is not an excuse for immature people to cut everyone off. It is a call to surrender to the work of God.

Some things pull nutrients away from the rest of your life. Certain habits keep you in old thoughts.

Some patterns hold you back from the fullness of what God is forming in you. God has always been after the heart.

Deuteronomy 10:16 says, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.”

Romans 2:29 says that true circumcision is “that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.”

Pruning is the heart work of God.

The Father loves us too much to leave every wild branch growing. He is forming maturity. He is shaping usefulness. He is making us fruitful.

The question is whether we will resist or surrender.

When God puts His hand on something, He is not trying to harm you. He is preparing you to bear more fruit.

Embrace every change from God.