By Cindy Phillips
Mid-summer is the best time to prune your Lavender bushes. I grow lavender in my Medicinal Herb Garden because I use it in the healing salves I make. Besides the wonderful smell, lavender help reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality, and alleviate stress through its calming scent and compounds like linalool and linalyl acetate. In order to keep my lavender plant healthy, I have to prune it every year. If I fail to prune it, it will gradually grow hard, woody, unfruitful stems.
Jesus spoke of pruning in John 15:1-2 (NASB) “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”
In Israel, they grew grapes and grape vines had to be pruned, like lavender, in order to be the most fruitful. In the passage above, Jesus talks about the branches He prunes. When talking about the non-fruitbearing branches, most translations say “take away”. Notice these branches are IN JESUS. The correct meaning is “lifts up”. Why are these branches (those in Christ) not bearing fruit? Because they are laying on the ground. They are covered with mud and dust and don’t get much light. What can a vinedresser do for these branches? Are they without hope? No! The vinedresser carefully lifts them up, cleans them off and sets them so they can get light and bear fruit. Isn’t that a great picture of our loving Father? He won’t let a Christian wallow around in the dirty world without hope.
There is one more branch in this story. This is the lavender branch. This is the grapevine branch that has been cleaned off and receiving light. They are bearing fruit. What does the vinedresser (and this lavender caretaker) want? MORE fruit. I want MORE lavender blossoms next year. The vinedresser and I know if we will prune these branches we will get MORE yield next year.
Practically speaking, what does pruning look like in the life of a fruitbearing believer?
The goal of pruning is not punishment but purification and growth. God removes hindrances from a believer’s life to maximize their spiritual output. The hindrances can be many things, such as unGodly friendships, sinful habits, idols, worldly distractions, misplaced priorities, etc. This process is often painful and difficult for the individual, as it requires letting go of familiar comforts or identities. However, it is an act of grace designed to align the believer more closely with the image of Jesus Christ, the true vine. The means of pruning believers is primarily through His Word and the Holy Spirit. The Word acts as a sharp tool that discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12), revealing areas that need cleansing. This ongoing work ensures that believers remain effective in their service, abiding in Christ to produce the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb 12:10-11).
Next spring/summer, I will see the results of the care I take for my lavender plant and it will put a smile on my face. Imagine the joy the Father experiences when you, once pruned, bear more fruit for Him. Submit to God. Allow the Word and the Holy Spirit within you to minister to you so you will bear more fruit. The reward of hearing “well done good and faithful servant” will be worth it!