Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
John 15:1-5 (NIV)
15 “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, as I also 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 you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Most of us know that we have too much in our homes. Our garage is too full of stuff to park our car in, our closet is filled with clothes we have not worn in years, and that treadmill we bought thinking we would get into shape a decade ago is now an expensive shelf. Our hearts and minds can be the same way. We spend our time focusing on the wrong things growing in anxiety over whether we got enough grams of protein today or obsessing over that one frustrating thing our spouse said a month ago! God wants to cut away all the junk in our lives that is not producing good fruit. First, confess 1 or 2 things that you feel need to be pruned. Ask for forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to work in your heart. Then, forgive others and prune away some of the dead stuff cluttering your relationships.