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John 15:1-15: Vine Pruned

We have been getting our garden all ready lately. We have been pulling weeds and pruning trees, mowing, and raking. My father is good at taking care of a yard; much better than am I. Growing up we always had more than one garden and many fruit trees to take care of. My dad even grafted an apple branch on a pear tree. He was very good at yard work. There was a joke at my house though about my dad's pruning. My mom would say that he would prune so much that there would be no tree left. I did a similar pruning job on a vine in our back yard yesterday.

This, of course, reminded me of John 15. If we don't prune the vine or the tree it will not produce as much fruit as it can. God gives us opportunities in our life to go through periods of pruning. These are opportunities for us to have cut out many negative things in our lives. Sometimes it may feel as if we have got nothing left of us but the truth is as we remain in the Lord through these times of pruning we will bear much fruit.

None of us necessarily like to be pruned. But when have you seen much fruit produced in your life after a period of pruning?

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