In attendance

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. (John 15:1-4)

Our Arizona sun has done a number on our garden this year. What started out so healthy, green, and fruit bearing has now become brittle, yellowed, and the fruit is nowhere to be found. The severe heat of the day, despite covering the plants with shade covers, has made what should have been a very fruitful spring/summer harvest a dud. I have observed something similar in God's kids on occasion. They seem to spring up with all kinds of gusto and good intentions, then when life's heat turns up a bit, they almost wither on the vine. I am not sure what happens to them, but they usually just drift for a while and most eventually 'come back', but you can certainly see that they have been through the 'pruning process'. If we want things to grow as they should, there is always going to be this 'pruning process'. We might find it a bit harsh at times, while we barely notice it happening at others. 

The truly amazing thing is not that God cares enough about us to 'save' us from wild and unhealthy growth, but that he ensures the best possible growth by ensuring we are 'grafted into' his healthy 'stock'. If we remained where some of us were planted originally, we'd just be a bundle of gangly branches with dead leaves and gangly, unyielding branches. When the 'pruning process' begins, we might feel a little 'naked' for a bit, but because of the exposure of things previously hidden under so much 'overgrown deadness', we begin to put forth new growth. New growth always seems to come from the most unlikely places within us. That may frighten some of us because we never imagined growth to be possible from those 'dead' and 'damaged' places. In God's hands, there is always the potential for new life!

The Word of God is life to those who hear it - it is also the very 'shears' that will 'prune and purify' our lives. To neglect the Word of God is to neglect a very necessary 'pruning'! Too many times we think we can get away with a little 'nip' here and there, but what we really need is a good old fashioned 'deep pruning'. We want the pruning process to be over quickly, but God's Word has a way of being there each and every time death is uncovered. When we yield to the Word of God, we are ensuring the 'graft' remains strong and vital. That strong and vital connection with God is what actually ensures not only growth, but fruit. How many of us want an unyielding garden? We want it to flourish, giving its fruit in season, and continually revealing that the gardener has 'been in attendance'. Just sayin!

A Gardener's Delight

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. (Colossians 1:9-10)

The moment we say 'yes' to Jesus, this 'grow as you learn' thing begins to happen. We might 'know' a little bit about God from what he has created, for creation speaks of him all around us. We might 'know' something about him because we went to church as a kid and heard 'things' about what he had done in the past. This walk with Jesus really begins in earnest once we move from just knowing 'things' about God into a place of really learning from him directly.

Good fruit is produced at the hand of a skilled gardener. I have tried my hand at planting this or that in the 'garden', but I must not be a gardener. In truth, what I am not - a patient, attentive worker in the garden. I can prepare the soil, bring home the seedlings, plant them, ensure they have water, and then I kind of leave it be. I forget it needs tending. Leaves need nipped, soil needs to be loosened, bugs need to be sprayed away, and buds need to be pollinated.

It is a good thing God is not a gardener who 'plants' and then 'forgets' to tend. He spends a tremendous amount of time 'tending' the garden of our hearts because he is looking for the very best harvest of fruit. Things in our character that will honor and please him are being produced - to neglect such good fruit would be terrible. We might not even realize the fruit is there in our lives, because just like in my raised garden beds, some of the greatest finds have been behind the leaves in my garden.

Prepared soil will not always ensure a good harvest. Tended gardens are what produce the ample harvest that will keep us well-nourished and 'healthy' for a good long time. Nothing please God more than asking to have the 'garden of our hearts' tended under his watchful and skillful hand. Just sayin!