how do we bear fruit?

We talk all the time about bearing fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit is well known (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control), and we spend a lot of time talking about how followers of Christ are to be known by their fruit.

I think, though, that we forget what it takes to bear fruit. In John 15:2, Jesus was talking about His Father and said, "He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so they will bear more fruit."

Prune. It's such a small word, but it holds so much significance. At first it might bring to mind a picture of somebody snipping back one or two leaves here and there, maybe taking an ugly leaf or a dead branch. But here's the thing: when you prune something back for producing fruit, you typically take a lot off. Since Jesus used the picture of a vineyard, we might as well look at that, too.

When someone is trying to get a good crop of grapes, they cut back all the pretty stuff. The vines with all the beautiful leaves and tendrils get cut back, leaving nothing but the main branch--typically the ugly stem that comes up from the root.

In our lives, we don't mind when the ugly stuff gets cut out--the stuff we don't like and would prefer to get rid of. I don't mind when God cuts out negativity. I would love for Him to cut out the busy-ness. The problem is, those things are like the ugly leaves. They may make the foliage look prettier when they're cut off, but they don't really help with producing more fruit. Those things are just superficial.

Instead, it's the deep cuts that make a difference. The pruning that matters is the one that hurts--the one that cuts back the parts of your life that you like, the beautiful parts that you don't necessarily want to get rid of. Sometimes, what gets cut back is a dream you're holding on to. Or maybe a relationship gets cut off. I've had some major prunings in my life: plans have been cut off, relationships with great friends have ended, and I've lost people. My most dramatic pruning came after my brother was killed.

I wouldn't have chosen any of those prunings, and to be honest I wouldn't wish most of them on anyone else. It hurts to be pruned, to have big things cut out of your life, especially when those are things that mean a lot to you. Don't get me wrong here; I'm not saying that all the bad things that happen in our lives are things God has caused. Sometimes, branches in the vineyard are broken by storms and it is only then that the Master of the vineyard comes along and cleans up the brokenness.

But here's the thing: Jesus told us, "I am the vine, and you are the branches." (John 15: 5) When we get pruned back, it leaves us with Jesus as all we have to cling to.

It isn't a fun thing, believe me. It is sometimes a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing experience. But in the midst of it, when we're at our lowest, we can call out with the psalmist,

On the day I needed You, I called,

and You responded

and infused my soul with strength.

[...]

Whenever I walk into trouble,

You are there to bring me out. 

You hold out Your hand to protect me

against the wrath of my enemies,

and hold me safely in Your right hand.

The Eternal will finish what He started in me.

Your faithful love, O Eternal One, lasts forever;

do not give up on what Your hands have made.

~Psalm 138:3, 7-8

 There's a promise in there that I tend to forget about: "The Eternal will finish what He started in me." God has started a work in each of our lives, and He won't abandon His work. We just have to remember that sometimes that work includes healing from the prunings so that we can produce fruit.