We recently purchased our first Hydroponics garden. It came equipped with all the stuff we needed for it to produce a lot of good fruit. I thought all we had to do is keep the water level up and put in some fertilizer once in a while.

Being first-time hydro farmers is realizing our countertop garden takes more care than just partaking of the fruit:)

I used to grow a garden in my backyard when I lived in Nebraska. We had only one growing season……summer. Plants produced fruit only one time and then died and went to seed. This Hyrdo garden has a year-round growing season. Continual harvesting is nice but in order to keep the plants healthy and productive pruning is essential.

Jesus talks about pruning in the book of John chapter 15. He used a subject that was very familiar to the Israelites at that time. They knew all about Vineyards and their care and importance, so when he started out by saying “I am the vine and My Father is the vinedresser (caretaker)”, He really got their attention! He goes on in verse five to say that we are the branches and in order to stay healthy and keep producing, we have to stay connected to the vine.

I like the assumption on Jesus’ part that He wants and even expects us to be productive in every season. The fruit He wants us to produce is talked about in Galatians.

“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”

Galatians 5:22,23

When this fruit is seen by others it draws people to Jesus. They see Him in us. If we lose our connection to the vine by allowing life and its problems to distract us, we become unproductive and unhealthy.

That’s when the Vinedresser steps in and begins to prune back unuseful and unproductive areas of our life by allowing circumstances that cause us to turn to Him.

All last season (my sixties) was a pruning experience. So many things were cut away from me. It wasn’t easy to go through but I can honestly say, any fruit I was producing at that time was pretty terrible tasting and not very appetizing. Jesus began cutting away old habits and ways of doing life that were no longer productive. He trimmed back dead activities that were stealing my time and focus from what is needed now so I can be productive in this new season. During the process, it was hard to see the good, but after a while, I began to see His faithfulness to me. He knows my heart and that my desire is to fulfill everything He has purposed for me to do!

Times of pruning may not feel so good but its purpose is always to make us more like Him so we can live our life with purpose and fruitfulness.