The Gardener Prunes His Trees

"'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." (1)

Pruned For Growth

My spirit is an apple tree,
Which blossomed in the springtime sun;
The day the Master called to me,
I rejoiced -- new life had begun.

I shot branches straight to the sky,
Absorbing all the light I could.
But then I heard the Master sigh:
"All of this light; nothing but wood."

Working gently with saw and shears,
My wayward growth He'd gently prune.
He cut worry and lobbed my fears;
Knowing I'd grown too fast, too soon.

The bough that bends beneath His will,
Yields an abundance of His fruits:
In the shadow, it has its fill;
Close to the ground, it knows its roots.

We grow at His pace in His time;
My own efforts aren't worth a dime.



(c) Paul Buis, 2000

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1. John 15:1-5