Cut It Back

     So far, the caretaker has just been concerned with the branch that is not bearing fruit.  He takes that branch and picks it up off the ground, and carefully washes the dirt and filth off of it, and ties it to the vine to keep it up off the ground.  He then turns his attention to the branch that is producing a little bit of fruit.

     John 15:2 says, "...and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."  He takes the branch that has begun to produce fruit and he purges it.  The word here for purge when referring to a vine, means to remove useless shoots.  A branch always favors new growth over producing fruit.  So if a branch is left unattended, it will continue to grow more an more shoots until it gets to the point that the shoots overtake and crowd out the areas where the grapes should grow.  The caretaker then takes out his shears and begins to cut away at the branch.

     If we are not careful, our lives can mirror what happens to this branch.  Often we assume that because we are busy, then we must be producing fruit.  But a lot of times, we fill up our lives and schedules and they begin to crowd out the fruit that God wants to produce in our lives.  So He gets out His shears and begins to cut out some things out of our lives.  This can be a painful process, but if we respond in the right way, then we will produce even more fruit for Him.  He may have to cut out some people out of our lives.  Maybe it is a hobby, or an activity that just takes up too much of our time.  It could be any number of things.  This process is similar to the runner that we find in Hebrews 12 that lays aside the weights that slow them down.  Are there some useless shoots in your life that are crowding out the fruit that God wants to produce in your life?  Ask Him to show you  what should go and what should stay.  His desire is not that we would produce a little fruit, but He wants us to produce much fruit!