Quick Note – John 15:1-2 – Pruning to Bear More Fruit

John 15:1-2 – I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

As I was reading this passage in John 15 today, I started to think about pruning.  I was born and raised in the city making my knowledge of agriculture and farming quite limited, so I decided to look up what pruning and its purpose was.  I came to find out that pruning is a technique performed by gardeners to remove dead, diseased, or short branches.  It is performed to remove shoots from a branch that could rob nutrients that would go towards making fruit. 

This short research on the concept of pruning helped me to better understand what God does in each and every one of our lives.  God prunes the short, diseased, useless branches that robbing us from making good fruit.  Although this process can hurt, because we often don’t want to let go of the things that distract us from God, it is important in our growth as Christians.  We must willingly allow God to prune out the things that take away our focus from Him, for we are called to bear fruit. 

Now, how do we know what things need to be pruned and what things need to stay?  I think this can easily be found in this same chapter, because Jesus Christ tells us if we want to bear fruit, we must abide in Him.  Things that help us abide in Christ are the things that are essential, and anything else should be pruned.  One important thing that we should abide in is His words (John 15:7 – “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”).  God’s Word should constantly be in our hearts and lives.  We should be meditating upon it day and night for that is what leads to growth (Psalm 1:1-3).  Another important thing that we should abide in is His love (John 15:9 – “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Abide in my love.”).  The love of Christ should flow in and out of our hearts into the world.  This love is characterized by sacrifice, by a willingness to serve others and to lay down one’s life for another (John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”).  We should also abide in Him by keeping His commandments (John 15:10 – “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”).  This means simple obedience – obedience to the Word of God.  This can all be summed up by abiding in Christ’s joy (John 15:11 – “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”).  Joy is more than just simple happiness, it represents a fulfillment of the heart.  Christ’s joy was to do His Father’s will, that is when He was fulfilled.  So when this passage says that His joy should be in us, that means that the fulfillment of our lives should also be in doing the Father’s will.  This will means that we love Him with all our hearts, soul, minds, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.   

If we choose to prune out anything that does not help us abide in Christ, we will bear much fruit.  This is what it means to have Christ live in us.  This is how we reflect Christ to the world.  In the chapter before, Jesus told His disciples, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:11).  Jesus Christ showed that He and the Father were one by obeying the Father and His commands.  This goes the same for us.  We show the world that we are Christians through our works and through our fruit.  Let us abide in Christ, so that our lives a reflection of God’s Son.  Let God prune out anything that takes away our attention from Him, so we can bear good fruit.