John 14:25-15:8
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.
15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. [1]
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What does it mean to be pruned? Around here, especially at this time of year, we know what pruning looks like in the vineyards. That work goes on throughout the winter months as the vines sit dormant. They’re pruned for the sake of next year’s harvest. The pruned dormant vine looks much different from how it appeared a few months earlier, just before harvest, heavy with fruit.
Pruning is cutting back that which is fruitful for the sake of future fruit-bearing. The work of pruning is an investment, an action taken for the future. At the time, to someone who doesn’t understand the process, it will seem backwards and counterintuitive.
Jesus says that the work of the Father in our lives is like a vineyard worker going through the fields after the harvest. What’s unfruitful is disposed of. What is fruitful is pruned for the sake of future harvests.
But what does this mean in life? What does it feel like to be pruned by the Father? Are there times when God is calling me to step back, to be unproductive, to go dormant in a certain area of life for the sake of future fruitfulness?
This is very counterintuitive to our normal way of thinking. We strive to be very productive and get more done in less time. We take pride in our busy-ness. But God has worked rhythms of fruit-bearing and restfulness into this world. (For instance, the simple pattern of waking and sleeping). And in this passage Jesus points to the Father’s activity in the lives of his disciples, to prune them back, to let them be unfruitful for the sake of future harvest.
The point is that it is ok to be non-productive. It is ok to rest. It is the Father’s will that we be pruned. This is a word I need to hear in my struggle with perfectionism. Accepting the Father’s pruning, being dormant and non-productive is not laziness, but rather God’s investment in me for the future of fruit-bearing He has planned for me.
So my prayer is for wisdom in discerning the Father’s pruning, seeing where He is calling me to be pruned and to rest, to enter a season of non-fruitfulness for the sake of future fruit-bearing.
What is the Word leading you to pray for?
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[1] The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 14:25–15:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
