Prunes might be one of the most misunderstood fruits on the planet. First of all, do you even know exactly what a prune is? I mean, sure we all probably have at least an idea of what they are, but why do they seem to get such a bad rap all the time? It's just a thought. And as it turns out, I don't even care too much about prunes...I mostly wanted to introduce the topic of pruning. No, I'm not talking about sitting in the bath tub until your skin gets soft and wrinkly. It's a horticultural practice that involves cutting dead or fruitless branches and leaves from a tree or bush, for the purpose of revitalizing the plant's growth.
Orchard and vineyard caretakers have to be familiar with pruning their crops. Otherwise, each consecutive year will end up yielding less and less harvest from the plants that get older and older. The principle behind the pruning process is rooted (excuse the arboreal pun...) in the concept of shaping how a tree develops and grows throughout its life. When new branches and buds grow, the tips (called the apical meristems) produce natural growth hormone, causing the cells in that region to divide, as well as stopping cell division further down the branch. So, to make more potentially fruit-bearing branches and buds, arborists cut off sections of the plant at different junctions to force more branching. This way, every year a new spread of buds will form, producing the optimum amount of fruit on strong, healthy branches.
By now, you're probably wondering how I'm going to draw a spiritual perspective out of this. Well, before you ask, [insert succinct and pertinent segue here]. A disciple of Jesus Christ named John writes an account of Jesus speaking the following words: "I am the true vine, and 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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will 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." (John 15:1-4, NIV)
For us to bear fruit in our lives, we have to trust that the Master Gardener knows how best we can grow, and that when He "prunes" us, He does so with the goal of our fruitfulness in mind. And now, please allow me to briefly mention something important here. The original word that John wrote that we now translate as "prune" (or "purge" in other versions) is the Greek word kathairo. It's a verb that means to cleanse of filth or impurity. In context, the word is pretty accurately translated as prune, but I just tend to be intrigued by the wording of Bible passages as they were two thousand years ago. The only thing I would point out is how important it is to realize that when God prunes us, He is removing everything that is disgusting, corrupt, and undesirable from our very being.
Here's the gist of what I hope you get from the past few minutes of reading this blog...that we can respond to God's pruning of our lives by incorporating several habits. In a very practical sense, getting pruned looks like this: being open and receptive to God's message, as well as to the people and events that focus you on God, to the challenges (both to you personally and to your fellowship) that purify us, and to the times in our lives when things that distract us are taken away. Sound familiar? It should, because it's the same reason that farmers take away pieces and lengths of a fruit tree or a grape vine; to allow the plant to redirect its energy into buds that will bear more fruit in the future, by purging the plant of bad branches.
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Author's note: These particular thoughts of mine were stirred by my dad, when I was home for President's Day weekend.
It's fortunate that after this post, I'll finally have written all of the thoughts that have been building up inside my head lately. Of course, they'll build up again, but at least I won't feel like I'm behind anymore. I feel like I just shook out the last of the stuff rattling around up there, kinda like a cartoon character hitting himself on the head so that the sand and sea water comes out of his ear. The name of the game is to get ahead of my brain, so that I write things on this blog as soon as (or even before!) I think of them.
Okay, now for the rattlers. They all are thoughts that God has placed on my heart last Tuesday night and last night at the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship nights that I go to. Last week was "Senior Share" night, when all of our family members who are graduating or otherwise leaving Chi Alpha after this semester gave their two-bits. Last night was Steve Barke's last sermon of the semester. Both nights were very special and thought-provoking, so I am going to address each of them one at a time.
Senior Share Night:- Robbie Love reminded the body that if we all come expecting to get something out of Chi Alpha, then there's no one who's actually giving anything, so eventually, we will all run out of whatever it is that brings us there. Instead, we should all come ready to give, so that the Spirit will overflow among us like a fountain. His words were very prophetic. Also, he mentioned something that I've heard before back at my church in Spokane Valley, that it's good to have a Paul, a Barnabus, and a Timothy in our lives. Basically, a Paul to mentor and train us in spiritual wisdom and maturity; a Barnabus to come alongside of us and encourage us as a peer; and a Timothy with whom to share our own knowledge that God has already taught us.
- Marjorie Nelch definitely played a musical collage of the Beatles, ending with the song "Love", only with a Christian application in the lyrics. It was pretty much amazing!
- Roselyn Gunderson had an important message to say, and it was something God really wanted to tell me. Essentially, she reminded us that we do not need to be afraid of God failing. So when we ask Him, we can have faith that we are not limited in what we ask, because God has never failed and cannot fail.
- Natalie Hardy isn't graduating, but she's going to UCLA starting in the fall. She encouraged us to be there for people who have no one except us and Christ.
- Alana Brunner exhorted us to live for God in every moment, rather than living in the past or the future like we're so prone to.
- Jeff Storvick's whole message to us was to emphasize the power and availability of prayer that we often take for granted. Also, another thing about prayer we forget about is that talking with God is a two-way street. We need to wait on the Lord and listen for His voice. We need to be prepared to hear something we might not be expecting to hear.
- And Jake spoke that night as well, but I hadn't started taking notes yet because I was taking care of the offering at the time. Sorry Jake! I love you too.
Last night's TNF: Steve Barke has, since the beginning of our time in Philippians, been drilling into our heads that God is BIGGER than [insert everything here]. But for some reason, this lesson hadn't really gotten its way into my head completely. In keeping with the drilling analogy (sorry, my dad's a contractor, so I think like this naturally), the chuck was on low power and the bit too dull to bite into my skull, until last night, when God switched tactics and found a jackhammer. God really is bigger. He's bigger than our every need. As Steve put it last night, when He looks at our needs, He laughs and asks us, "Is that all?" We need to need more. Steve finished by challenging us to answer the question for ourselves, How will we accomplish our mission? One other random tag-along thought: there is a big difference between me just hoping that God will give me a job this summer, and the people I know praying for a position that they have found and desire greatly. I want to be in the latter place...but I'm not quite there yet.
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Author's note: 'TNF' stands for "Tuesday Night Fellowship", for those who aren't as well-acquainted with Chi Alpha. If you aren't acquainted, ask me about it...I love our family!
