20% Pruning

When my mom needed many of her overgrown trees and bushes pruned, her neighbor mentioned to me a truth about trimming. The arborist had told her that only twenty percent of any tree can be cut off at one time. My mind immediately raced to the verse in John 15:2 “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.” God prunes us so that we will bear much fruit. With a thankful heart, I was glad that God also follows this principle of cutting back a small amount each time. Thankfully, God doesn’t expose all of our sins to us at once, but rather He gently shows us the areas that we need to work on to become more like Jesus. He prunes us where we need to be pruned so we can bear more fruit. We know we can do nothing without God.

If there is any pruning that needs to be done in my life, I submit these areas to You, Lord. Amen.