Trimming, Cutting, and Pruning!

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had to spend some time trimming, cutting, and pruning the trees and bushes around our property.  Some of it has included cutting off dead branches that were just taking up space and threatening to break off in a storm.  Much of it has been cutting back excess growth in order to keep the trees and bushes from becoming overgrown and taking over the yard.  And, some of the work was about pruning back shoots that potentially sap life from the main tree, rather than add to the life of the tree. I’ve had to take out the clippers, power trimmer, and even the chainsaw – sometimes even getting up on a ladder. Yes, it’s a lot of work! 

But without the work of trimming, cutting, and pruning, the trees and bushes on our property would become well overgrown and at times unhealthy.  No longer would they be for us an asset to our property, but instead a liability.  We wouldn’t be able to enjoy sitting in our back yard or even just driving up to our home. Rather, we would find ourselves overwhelmed by trees and bushes that had taken over; a landscape that had become somewhat of a monster, rather than one of peace and beauty. 

Our lives are much like those trees and bushes on my property (and maybe on yours). When properly cared for they are beautiful, bringing peace and joy and life to those around. Left to go their natural way, they tend to become filled with excess and even death.  Our natural appetites can quickly become exaggerated, leading us into sin. We take on baggage that saps our strength from us and leaves us unable to function the way we ought. Parts of us die and we become angry, bitter, or filled with despair.  Thus, sometimes we need someone to come along and help us do some trimming, cutting, and pruning lest we become that monster we never wanted to become. 

Some of the newly trimmed trees & bushes in our backyard!

Thankfully, we have a Great Gardener who loves us enough to help us with the hard work that needs to be done in our lives.  Jesus said, “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. (John 15:1-2 – NIV)  God is working to create a beautiful garden called, the Church. And, as the Great Gardner, he gets rid of that which is dead, he cuts back that which is growing in excess, and he prunes away that which will destroy. His goal is that his people—i.e. each one of us individually and all of us corporately—would become a beautiful garden that will bring peace, joy, and life to the world around us!

Won’t you trust God with your life today, enough to allow him to do his work of trimming, cutting , and pruning in you?

“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”  (Isaiah 58:11 – NIV)

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris