It's Spring - It is time to Prune

? Every Spring, the ornamental trees, shrubs, and plants on my property need to be pruned. Some branches have grown haphazardly too low, are brushing against the house, or hang low across the sidewalks. Still, others have some branches that are dead and no longer producing flowers or leaves. These dead branches can be dangerous as they can dislodge in high winds and injure someone. Pruning is healthy for the plants and safe for you. Low-hanging branches and branches reaching across the sidewalks can strike you along the head or poke you in the eye if you are not paying attention. Pruning enables you to walk freely without being hurt. The other trees with dead branches need the dead growth removed as well. Disease and parasites can take up residence in such growth, which can spread to other branches or trees, attacking and weakening originally healthy trees.? Such conditions can potentially even hurt other plants that you have. So proper pruning is a necessity. Pruning can be a modest removal of plant growth, a cutting back on a branch, or it could be extensive complete removal of whole branches, and if there is concern for infection of other trees or plants, complete removal may be necessary.

??????????? God’s creation is teaching us a truth. The need to prune unhealthy situations, dead things, and things that are diseased or parasitic is necessary for health. I speak specifically here of people who you interact with and who impact you regularly from work, church, neighbors, clubs, organizations, etc., And because of social media, these people have far more opportunity to impact you than at any other time in history. You should assess these individuals that are around you, physically and virtually. Are any dangerous, producing, or capable of producing, hazardous conditions or situations that could cause or tempt you to fall or harm yourself physically, emotionally, or spiritually? Such people generally have sinful lifestyles, conversations and actions. They can also be caustic and narcissistic and pruning such individuals from your life is a healthy thing to do. Doing so provides a safe environment for you, your family, and your spiritually healthy friends.

??????????? Still, other people who impact you, like the diseased, parasitic dead branches, are the critical speakers, judgers, backbiters, gossips, maligners, liars, evil surmisers, slanderers, self-focused, self-serving, strife raisers, dividers, proud, and unloving individuals, which can arise around you. Just like a disease, these people and their actions consume your life and spread to others rapidly, and infect even the best-intentioned individuals. When a gossip or evil surmiser tells a juicy story, almost everyone turns their ear to listen with a jolt of hidden excitement. Why do we desire to hear gossip and dirt on others? How ungodly, how fleshly...are you not carnal?? Our flesh begs to gain control of our actions.? Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.? Without question, those who are doing such things are in their flesh. You are lying to yourself and to God to conclude otherwise. God calls us to prune such individuals from our lives. If you entertain such individuals' folly, it is like fertilizing and watering a weed; they will grow, invade, and take over you as well.

??????????? There is also the parasitic person who feasts on you, taking your energy, purpose, and joy, relishing your destruction, and being empowered by judging, false accusations, critical comments, maligning, and evil speculation about you or others. As a lying parasite, they convince you that they are valuable in your life with fair and seductive words and speeches. But, in reality, they drain you of everything good by their continuous sapping work at your expense.?

??????????? It is time to examine closely those in the greater sphere of your life and determine if pruning needs to occur. Who is impinging on you and your life negatively? Are there people that are dangerous, diseased, or parasitic at work against you? Because of social media, we have far more individuals in our “friend” group than at any other time in history. Many to most are fine and acceptable. But reflection on some will reveal that some pruning needs to occur, whether a reduction of an ability to impact you is made, or complete removal. On social media, when someone is unfriended or blocked an uproar seems to always occur like some awful sin has been committed. However, this is not an evil thing to do, but a necessity commanded by God’s Word. We are to shun, avoid, withdraw from, and not keep company with such individuals. They are unhealthy and even dangerous. (2 Thessalonians 3:6; Romans 16:17; 2 Timothy 3:5, Titus 3:8-11, I Thessalonians 4:6-8, and others.)

??????????? It’s Spring. I am breaking out the pruners. I encourage you to do so for your own physical, emotional, and spiritual health. I am sure that you’ll find at least a few branches that need to be pruned. Blessings.

Pastor John

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