But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. - Galatians 5:22-23

My dad was a gardening genius. He knew just when and how to plant to get the maximum yield. But one year he did something that astounded me, and I've never forgotten it. He surrounded the entire garden with nasturtiums. I wondered why he'd planted those flowers around the perimeter of the garden, and toward the end of summer I found out. A plague of millions of grasshoppers came through, demolishing gardens and crops. They gobbled up those nasturtiums that surrounded our garden and moved on to the next one, leaving our garden intact.

In John 15, we are introduced to the greatest gardener of all. Every good gardener knows you have to prune your plants and trees to get maximum yield. And so with God. Jesus said, "My father is the gardener. 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" (15:1-2).

Notice two things here. First, there is a severity in this picture of God. And second, there is a single-mindedness in this picture of God. As a gardener, He has one interest--that the branches bear lots of fruit. If He doesn't find any, Jesus says He takes that branch away. And every branch that bears fruit He prunes to bring more fruit. God takes whatever action is necessary to cleanse His people so they will produce fruit for His glory. The key to it all is that the people of God must abide in--live in close, day-by-day fellowship with--Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Lord, may this connection and this dependency thrill my soul forever. Amen.

To Ponder

If God is pruning your life, you can rejoice that you're a fruitful branch, and He wants your life to be even more fruitful for His glory.