In one of the more famous chapters in the gospel of John, Jesus said something that is often overlooked, and it involves cutting.
He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. (John 15:2 NLT, emphasis mine)
Did you catch that? Everyone gets cut — the ones who don’t bear fruit and the ones who do. The cutting isn’t optional, but the purpose of the cutting is.
We’re either cut off or we’re cut back. One removes us and the other refines us.
It’s far too easy to look at a life that never seems to experience the sharp cuts of loss and pain and assume that’s the goal, but Jesus said the opposite. He said that the most fruitful lives would also be the most pruned lives.
The pruning is part of the proving, and while we may not like it (and honestly, who does?), we can trust the process and the pruner.
