God's Methods of Pruning for Growth
When a gardener wants to prune a fruit tree, he selects his tools carefully (as shown in the photo here). Each of these tools has a particular job in ensuring clean cuts, so that the tree is not harmed in the process of pruning to produce a larger crop.
Pruning tools
Photo:
© MD Vaden
In JOHN 15:1-5 Jesus describes his Father God as "The Gardener" who wants the fruit trees in his garden to produce fruit, so he prunes them to increase their fruitfulness. God's tools and methods for pruning include -
• Putting us in DIFFICULT OR IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS
• Putting us alongside DIFFICULT OR UNLOVABLE PEOPLE
• Allowing us to be TESTED BY TRIALS OF VARIOUS KINDS
• REMOVING THINGS WE HAVE COME TO RELY UPON
• ASKING US TO GO INTO THE WILDERNESS to wait upon him
God's Discipline As Part Of The Pruning Process HEBREWS 12:1-11
In these verses the writer to the Jewish Christians (Messianic Jews) in the second century AD emphasises the importance of God's discipline as part of his process of pruning us to produce a harvest of righteousness.
To see a poem by John Newton on this topic, go to 