Garden Lessons

This morning having breakfast by the pond with Precious Husband I couldn't help but notice the asparagus ferns that hug both sides of the waterfall.  Green, soft, supple, eye catching, healthy.  Not so a few weeks ago.  A few weeks ago they were yellow, dry, over-grown, brittle with lots of dead prickly hurtful branches jetting out everywhere.

What made the difference?  The gardener got very busy with his pruners.  Yes, Precious Husband really cut them back to the bare minimum and they were definitely not pretty to look at after this severe pruning but so worth it now to see the results.

Viewing my asparagus fern I find myself praying, "Lord, prune me.  Clip me back to the roots if You need to because I know I need it and I will flourish as a result."

The Vine and the Branches

John 15

1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.