Day 3

Romans 1:19–20 CSB

19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

Genesis 1:9–13 CSB

9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.

Intro

Created Place

Before the fruitful vegetation could grow, God had to create a place for it to grow. He had to pull back the waters to expose the dry land where it would have the opportunity to flourish. Fruitful vegetation can’t just grow anywhere. In fact, we learn this through one of the parables that Jesus taught.

Matthew 13:3–9 CSB

3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. 9 Let anyone who has ears listen.”

Using agricultural parables and examples was very common for Jesus. I believe that not only is it because he is speaking to a largely agriculture driven people, but because we can do what Romans 1 said and relate and understand God’s nature through the creation and function of creation that is revealed in those examples.

Not everyplace is good ground. Jesus later explains each spot that the seed was sown and what it represents:

Matthew 13:18–23 CSB

18 “So listen to the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. 20 And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 21 But he has no root and is short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does produce fruit and yields: some a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

What we learn is that growth comes from the way that we receive the things of God.

The Key to fruitful living

We see again the true underlying key to a fruitful life in John 15

John 15:1–8 CSB

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

The Vine and The Branches

The very first verse is Jesus making the statement: “I am the True Vine.” The fact that Jesus is claiming to be the true vine indicates to me that false vines exist. We have to be careful what we connect ourselves to. Everything that we produce in our lives is the result of where we have laid our roots and what we have connected ourself to. If you want to see joy produced in your life you can’t be connected to things that bring depression. If you want peace in your life you can’t stay connected to things that only ever bring forth conflict in your life. Branches produce apples because they are connected to an apple tree. That same branch stops producing apples when it falls off from the tree. We really need to understand just how reliant we are on Jesus as the true vine. The branches can’t even survive without the vine. The vine is what gives life to the branches. The vine is what fuels the growth of fruit on the vine. This again is why it is so important for us to be connect to the true vine. The picture we see here is that if we are not connected to Christ we are dead.

What is the fruit?

We must understand what type of fruit is supposed to be produced from this connection to the true vine in order for us to understand and determine if we are in fact connected to the TRUE Vine.

Galatians 5:22–25 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

If these things are not being produced in your life. There is a good chance that there is something that needs to change in your relationship with Christ. If we do not put to death our old desires and way of life we are not connected to the vine properly. If we do not walk as the Holy Spirit leads us to, we are not connected to the vine properly.

The Pruning Process

There is a third aspect of this relationship, scripture tells us that the Father is the Gardener. He cuts off the branches that do not produce fruit while he prunes the ones that do, to produce more. Why would any farmer in his right mind keep crops around that do not produce anything?

Lack of fruit

Those that lack are nothing more than dead weight. A gardener looks for crops that are producing what they are supposed to be producing. Crops that don’t want to cooperate are a waste. Here is the sad thing, many of the branches that get cut off for not producing fruit, at one time were fruitful. But the gardener does not care about what was produced in the past if nothing is being produced in the present. Perhaps the reason you don’t see an increase of fruitfulness in your life and maybe even have seen a decrease, is because you are not fulfilling the identity that God has currently given you by producing what he has created you to produce. If he designed a tree to be an apple tree then in order for it to fulfill it’s true purpose for it’s life then it needs to produce apples.

Fruit production

However, on the other side of things. If you are faithful to fulfilling the identity that Christ gave you. The gardener prunes you so that you can be blessed to produce more fruit.

The pruning process

According to a google search

Pruning is a practice involving the selective removal of certain parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. ... The practice entails targeted removal of diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue from crop and landscape plants.

There are many reasons why pruning a tree is important. ... With proper pruning, a tree can be made to grow into a certain configuration of limbs and branches that is more ideal for the structural integrity of the tree. Maintaining the tree's structure helps to mitigate the risk of broken limbs and falling branches.

Pruning is when you selectively remove branches from a tree. The goal is to remove unwanted branches, improve the tree's structure, and direct new, healthy growth

The pruning process is for the good. We don’t always see it that way though. We feel as if we have been cut off sometimes from the blessing of God. We feel as if we have been cut off from his presence and goodness. But in reality, we are not cut off, we are just cut back. Cut back so that we can grow in a new direction, cut back so that we can have new healthy growth. Cut back so that we can be more structurally sound. Pruning is an important part of our relationship with Christ. We all need to be pruned and trimmed up. God’s desire is for us to be a people that bares much fruit! This whole process is how this happens. God cuts off the sin from our life. He may lead us away from certain people, he may allow certain loses to come.

Pruning prepares for the next season

Pruning is a refining process. It is a process that comes before every season of production. A fruit farmer will take time in preparation for the next season to go through and prune his trees so that when that season comes, that tree will be ready, healthy, strong and able to produce in that season. If God doesn’t prune you right now in this season then you won’t be able to survive and thrive in the next season.

“Seed Bearing” Vegetation