2 minute read.
Daily Reading: 2 Samuel 9:1-11:27 ESV, John 15:1-27 ESV, Psalm 119:49-64 ESV, Proverbs 16:1-3 ESV
Daily Verse: “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.” (John 15:2 ESV)
KLEMA (2814): “A limb or shoot (as if broken off). Denotes a tender, flexible branch, especially the shoot of a vine, a vine sprout.”[i]
Flexible branch.
Growing healthy fruit requires pruning, taking away the dead, the fruitful pruned becoming even more productive. God, our gardener, tends to the soil of our hearts, planting seeds of love. Jesus, blending truth and grace perfectly, exposes our sinful nature, replacing it with His affection.
Christ, the true vine, connects us to the gardener, God. Sprouting from Jesus, our branches will multiply the more we follow Him. As we grow, we’ll learn flexibility; we must so we can love others. The more flexible we become, the more loving our actions.
Become bendable.
Growing branches bend and wave in storm winds, but they don’t break. Attached to the true vine, God won’t let you go. As the wind whips, and the rain pounds, Go holds you tight in His grasp, always with you. And when you need pruning, God will do the clipping.
Talking to a friend about why people lie, I didn’t have the answer. When I feel tempted to lie, God nudges me. Maybe the person won’t know I lied, but God does. From within, He prunes me, reminding me of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life.
The same thing happens when I feel proud. When I hit the golf ball on the sweet spot, sending it flying in the air, I immediately feel like a pro. But then, on the very next hole, I dink it, barely hitting the ball, instantly feeling humbled.
How God prunes us, only He knows. In order to grow, we must accept the pruning. Bending, twisting, and flourishing, our branches grow. With Jesus’ help, we’ll produce good fruit.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Greek Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 139) Thomas Nelson
