John 15: 1-2
"I am the true vine and my father is the gardener. 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."
Lord Jesus used the vineyard to symbolize He is the vine and we are the branches. The branches have to be connected to the tree in order to have nutrient and bear fruits. In this vineyard, God is the gardener who knows what it takes for the vine to grow. When I last visited Israel, I noticed that their vines were well grown with branches over 20 feet long! But when the spring time comes, the 20-feet branches have to be pruned to one foot long, and without such pruning, the fruits in the following year would not be plentiful. In the same way, as Christians our lives will be pruned by God sooner or later.
People including Abraham, Moses and David who were greatly used by God in the Bible, their characters were dealt by God and their lives broken without exception! If you recall apostle John, you would regard him as the beloved disciple of Jesus, ironically when he started to followed Jesus, his nickname was called "Thunder". Once on the road to Samaria, when Jesus was not welcome, if would have been us, we would have said, "Since we are not welcome, let's find somewhere we would be welcome."; but Peter told Jesus instead, "Should we ask the fire from heaven to burn them up?" Yet on the Island of Patmos, the same Peter was filled with love and marked with the seals pruned by God.
Apostle Peter felt he was such a strong and righteous person that he liked to lead the way, but yet his personality was so unstable. He bore the shame of denying Jesus three times and came to understand his own weaknesses; his character was being molded and slowly maturing to become "the most aspiring apostle"!
So brothers and sisters, never ever say, "I am who I am and I cannot be changed just as Jesus is the same today, tomorrow and forever!" No, no, no! You need to be transformed and submit yourself willingly to be pruned in the hands of God our Father as this is His kind desire!
In places where Christians are gathered together , it is like walking into a garden filled with trees pruned into different shapes and forms with each bearing its own beauty! God's work on us is quite similar: God prunes each one of us according to His heart and desire so that we will slowly maturing into the likeness of Christ. Not only will we be like Christ, all the believers can be like Him as long as we are willing to submit our lives into God's hand, willing to be pruned by Him!
Pray with Pastor Tong
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