“When it’s clear that your way hasn’t worked for you and you find yourself covered in dirt and surrounded by weeds, there is a gardener with a graceful heart and gentle hands who longs to pick you up.”- Kyle Idleman
“[The gardener] 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 15:2 (NIV)
Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 6 of When Your Way Isn’t Working with commentary on John 15:2. First, Pastor Idleman notes, the Greek word for “cut off” is airo. Furthermore, airo generally means something along the lines of “remove” or “lift up.”
Most significantly, The Lutheran Study Bible offers the following insights on John 15:2-3 regarding fruit and prunes:
“Fruit. Not just holy deeds, but love and witness leading to new disciples. Prunes (literally ‘cleanses’) cf v.3. Although Christians have already been cleansed by God’s forgiveness, they are daily in need of repentance and spiritual growth.”
In addition, Kyle observes, consider the actions of a vinedresser who spots a vine branch in the dirt. Still connected with the vine, it bears no fruit. Withered and struggling, weeds surround the branch. Yet, hope remains as long as the branch stays connected to the vine. Hence, the vinedresser cleans off the branch and tenderly entwines it with other branches. That strengthens the connection and fruit begins to grow.
In conclusion, Pastor Idleman offers these words of encouragement:
“I don’t know what you would do with you or what others would do with you, but I know what God wants to do with you. No matter how spiritually dry or dead you might feel, no matter how unproductive your life has been, no matter how long you’ve been lying in the dirt and caught up in the weeds, God wants to gently pick you up and clean you off.”
Today’s question: What most helps you find comfort in the graceful heart and gentle hands of the Gardener? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Cutting and snipping arbitrarily?”