Revisited thoughts
This is old
Today's question is, "What does Jesus mean when he says, in John 15 1-2, 'every branch that does bear fruit he prunes'?"
What does it mean to be pruned? If you read on in the next verse we learn that pruning produces more fruit. So pruning is a good thing but it still sounds painful. So how are people pruned?
It is interresting to be a Baptist in a Catholic school. There is just enough difference to add a flavor on perspective. (The whole 'Mary thing' aside, obviously.) Sometimes Father Fred brings up or points out ideas that I, having been fed Baptist sermons all my life, had not heard before. Maybe I had not heard them because I wasn't ready to hear them. So I ask you, "What does Jesus mean when he says prune?"
June 19, 06
I have since briefly researched pruning and found that flowering trees are pruned for several reasons. One reason is to shape the tree for both aesthetic appeal and practical purposes. Its easier to pick fruit from a short tree.
Trees are also pruned so that they will produce more fruit. Pruning actually revitalizes gowth in the area that was pruned.
The question is what shape do you need to be so that God can use you and what area of your spiritual life needs revitalizing. Is God coming toward you with pruning shears, hedge clippers or a power saw?
