Hi everyone! Today I went to my grandmother's house to trim her grape vines. As you can see from the picture below, this is a very old vine! I'm pretty sure it was planted by my great-grandfather in the early 1900's.
The vines have been severely neglected over the years and recently have not produced as much fruit as I remember when I was a child. Since pruning promotes new growth and grapes grow on the new growth, I figured I'd better get busy. Besides, there's another principle at work here as well: we work now and reap the benefits of our work later.
As I set about doing my task, my mind became fixed upon what the Bible has to say about pruning:
John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 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. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
As the piles of useless branches began to increase, I thought about how much of our lives are wasted on fruitless deeds. We must give God room to prune us; to shape our thinking, to conform our will to His will for our lives. Then, in due season we will be fruitful.
Romans 12:1-2 says:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."- John 15:8
You are invited to Join the 30-Day #bibleliteracychallenge!
The goal with the #bibleliteracychallenge is to help you to memorize at least 1 Bible verse per day for 30 days.
Who's with me?
How to do the 30-day Bible Literacy Challenge:
Resteem and upvote this post (if you'd like to).
Create a photo of a Bible verse you've written down or typed, along with the #bibleliteracychallenge tag and your Steemit name. For those who may need a little help, I use Canva to create the photos with text overlay.
Don't forget to add the title Bible Literacy Challenge and tag your post #bibleliteracychallenge
Somewhere on your post indicate which day you are on in your own personal challenge. For me, this post marks day 10.
for this Steemit gif