PRAYER PROMPT ••• I’m trying to raise a little succulent on my desk at work and have managed to keep it alive for almost seven weeks!
A record because I’m one of those people who can kill a silk plant.
My husband, on the other hand, is very good with plants.
A few years ago, I was horrified to come home and see he’d pruned our lush, full tomato plants down to almost sticks.
“What did you do? They look terrible!”
He assured me this was the best thing for the plant.
He talked about the plant’s energy, concentrating on growing, yadda, yadda, yadda…stuff I don’t understand.
But, he was right.
The plant grew bigger tomatoes when he pruned it.
Jesus was a carpenter, but as the Creator of the universe, He knows a thing or two about plants as well.
In John 15:2, He said, “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.”
Verses 4-5 offer further explanation, “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. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”
If we believe in Jesus, and we have surrendered our lives to Him, we should be growing in Him.
Our lives should be productive and profitable for the Kingdom by the way we treat others and live by the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
It’s not enough to say we believe.
Belief is a word of action; it’s not passive!
Those who say they believe but do not live and grow in Christ, they will be pruned.
I can say, “Sure, I believe in God,” but if nothing about my lifestyle changes; nothing about me demonstrates faith; it’s just lip-service.
Many are in for a rude awakening because they think that saying the words are enough.
But we BECOME saved.
We SURRENDER to Christ.
We TRY to become more like Him.
All words of movement and action.
Today, as you pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help you become a thriving branch, bearing much fruit for the Kingdom.
Ask Him to help those who profess, but don’t live by the Word, to become productive branches for Christ.
