Yield to Father’s Pruning for a Fabulous Upgrade

(John 15:1–2 NKJV) “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Our Lord begins this statement with the words, “I am.” Without doubt, this implies his divinity; Jesus is referring to himself with a phrase used exclusively in their culture for God. Jesus is God—God’s only begotten Son, the word made flesh.

The Master gave this parable to illustrate the importance of remaining in him. The objective is that we be fruitful as a branch of Jesus’s life, work, and ministry on earth. The only alternative is to be a fruitless branch/extension of Jesus’s work, which the Father “takes away.”

This is powerful, and it should inform our understanding of God’s expectation. He is talking to “every” branch “in me.” Either they are fruitfully connected to Jesus, in which case they undergo some serious pruning; or they are un-fruitfully connected to him, in which case Father removes them from him completely. This is deep, profound, and very sobering.

Jesus is not talking about the outcome for those not “in” him; he is talking about those connected to his life, nutrition, identity, benefits, and essence. He says that even though they have all of this available to them in him, they produce no fruit. He has done his part to make them fruitful branches of himself on earth; he has grafted them in:

(Romans 11:17 NKJV) And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree.

Forgive the mixed metaphor, but it seems that the production of fruit is the responsibility of the branch. Drawing on Jesus, but then not producing any fruit with what you take, is a very serious matter. According to what Jesus said here, it leads to complete severance from him.

If on the other hand, the Father sees that we begin to be a fruitful branch of Jesus on earth, he then takes action to increase our yield. So …

(John 15:2 NKJV) “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

This translation says that Father “prunes” the fruitful branches, so that they “bear more fruit.” Pruning is when the vinedresser cuts off part of the branch: “ouch!” We could very easily, but very wrongfully, conclude that God is an unfeeling and unscrupulous profiteer—viewing us as an opportunity for gain.

However, if we begin with the premise that God is love, then we conclude that this “pruning” is somehow beneficial for us and for all universal being. If perfect love is behind this action, being “more” fruitful must benefit God and others as well as us. So, let’s willingly endure this pruning; let’s receive willingly the cutting away from our lives of the unfruitful facets: people and branches of ministry or activities that draw our life and energy, but which produce little fruit.

Over time, God shapes your life and focuses you into the areas for which you are most gifted and fruitful—the areas where his grace enables you to produce maximum fruit by the most efficient use of your time and energy. As a result, everyone is blessed: you are more fulfilled, while accumulating greater rewards; others are more edified and made whole through your ministry; and God is pleased with your growth and the advancement of his kingdom.

A different, but more literal, translation clarifies another aspect of what Jesus said in this passage:

(John 15:2, 3 YLT) “Every branch in me not bearing fruit, He doth take it away, and every one bearing fruit, He doth cleanse by pruning it, that it may bear more fruit; (3) already ye are clean, because of the word that I have spoken to you.”

Forgive the old English, but I wanted you to see that a literal translation of the original uses the same word in both verses: “cleanse” or “clean.” So, the pruning or cleaning by Father that sounds so scary to us, had already been done for Jesus’s apprentices by the “word” that he had already “spoken” to them. This is very good news. For us, it means that the pruning and cleansing happens through what Jesus says to us—not sickness, disasters, calamities, tests, attacks of the devil, or trials. (These may put pressure on our faith; and they may lead to the exposing and relinquishing of any residual trust in concealed worldly deceptions. But pruning is talking about God’s work on the branches of our life, work, and ministry that potentially could produce kingdom fruit.)

Jesus does virtually everything he does by speaking. Speaking is how he did all his miracles; it is how his life and grace flow to us; it is how we renew our minds; it is how faith comes; and it is how he corrects and directs us. So, we should not be surprised that Father does his cleansing and pruning by speaking to us through Jesus.

When we hear Jesus speak, faith for change comes with the words—along with conviction and correction where needed. Our loving Lord doesn’t ruthlessly wrench the fruitless parts from our lives by force; he speaks life to us. He intends for the fruitless parts to fall away like old autumn leaves that fall off as the new leaves begin to grow.

If absolutely necessary—because of our stubbornness—Father has to remove something we won’t let go of, he uses his precise laser surgical instrument—his word that is sharper than a two-edged sword:

(Hebrews 4:12 NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Today, I encourage you first to remain in the vine. Stay in Jesus; bask in his love, and listen to his words. Allow Father to use them to gently cleanse away the parts of your life that aren’t fully fruitful—parts that aren’t life-producing. Let him make room for the parts for which you are graced, gifted, called, and assigned. When you focus on them, grace and life will flow, you will be fulfilled and others will be blessed. You won’t complete projects, assignments, or each day feeling trapped, drained, and exhausted; you will feel elated and energized—overflowing with thankfulness, praise, and worship.

Maybe you are holding on tenaciously today to some area that—although it may have been fruitful in the past—you still feel obligated to work at. Perhaps you are trapped in something, or even want to do something, that is needlessly draining your life, energy, and time. For example, it could be a relationship, a hobby, a ministry, a business, a career, or an endeavor. If so, receive God’s direction—or maybe correction—in this area, and let go of it. Cast all of the care of it over onto him; pray for the right person to be released into it, replacing you; and enjoy the freedom and cleansing. Then look forward to bountiful fruit and fulfillment in the areas for which he has designed, gifted, graced and assigned you.