Word For The Day: Maximizing Fruitfulness

When we moved into our home, the yard looked like the Sahara Desert. There were a few massive Eucalyptus trees and lots of ugly, nothing. If you visit our house today, it looks like a miniature Garden of Eden. I am no gardener. Though I have no personal interest in gardening and caring for plants, I appreciate the beauty of the garden, and every day I enjoy eating the fruit produced by skillful farmers.

A farmer desires beauty and maximum fruitfulness from his garden. God is like that. In John 15:1-2, God is likened to a farmer who carefully prunes his vines to produce more fruit.

John 15:1-2
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 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.

God’s pruning is never painless. Often it is through adversity and trials of life that God brings my life to a place of maximum fruitfulness. God uses adversity to loosen my grip on things that are not genuine fruit. It may be the loss of employment, the death of a loved one, physical pain, loss of friendship, or unfulfilled dreams. Whatever the situation, God is pruning away at my life to focus on what is important.

Christian, turn over your desires and expectations to the sovereign will of God. As you learn to trust God more and more, you will increasingly desire only things that will count for eternity.

Have a blessed Wednesday!
Pastor Phil