Do You Need Pruning?

Happy Monday Friends!

I’m excited to share with you a weekly post called Monday Musings of Grace. If you follow me on Instagram, then you are already familiar with my Monday Musings. Each week I like to share a word of encouragement. Something I’ve been dwelling on. Or even just a part of scripture that has been encouraging to me. So after many months of being contained to the small captions that Instagram allows, I’ve decided to extend it to the blog!

Each Monday Musing will be accompanied by a free printable for my subscribers! So if that’s something that gets you jazzed then make sure you subscribe to get access to the below print quality (and without my website!) printable. Because I like to take care of my peeps. 😉 (Do people still say peeps?) Otherwise, I hope that my Monday Musings of Grace is an encouragement to you.

So here we go! I spent the afternoon yesterday pruning my overgrown garden. I let it go for a few weeks and it struck me how quickly the dead overgrowth marred my beautiful bushes. And it got me thinking. What do I need to prune from my own life? What have I allowed to overshadow the beauty that God gives me daily?

Every gardener knows that pruning is necessary to ensure that a plant stays healthy and thriving. So why do we always view pruning in our own lives as a bad thing? Sometimes God uses moments of pruning for our benefit. It is painful during the trial but He is helping us to abide in Him. To remain healthy. To get rid of the bad, the distractions, the ugly. The stuff that’s holding us back. Maybe it’s a habit. Maybe it’s a hobby. Maybe it’s even a relationship. I haven’t quite figured out what I need to prune personally. But I think it’s good to think about. Because when we abide in Him, He promises Life.

I’ve always loved this passage from John. It is an analogy that makes you think. Christ is the vine and we are the branch. Can a branch do anything apart from the vine? The roots? No, of course not. So why do we often think we can do life on our own? Apart from God we can do nothing. Sometimes branches need to be pruned to bear more fruit. And those are the times it is most important to remember that we are simply a branch and Christ is our source of nourishment and strength.

“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. Already you are clean because of the word that 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. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John ‭15:1-5‬

Be blessed this week friends,

Sarah