I Do! – Bloom Where You Are Planted – June 9th

I DO
June 9, 2021

Bloom Where You Are Planted

John 15:1-8, ‘”I am the Real Vine and My Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of Me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing He prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. Live in Me. Make your home in Me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with Me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with Me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from Me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with Me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how My Father shows Who He is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as disciples.”’ (MSG)

How many times in our own lives do we cut back that which shows no growth? No sign of survival? We reach dead-ends, right? and we shut that down, consider making changes, sometimes even move on completely. We are well aware of those areas in our lives that suck more energy, require more oomph, drain us dry. The problem is so much of the time, we are aware we need a change, it’s necessary to cut something out or off, but we are too attached to do so.

But did you read above that our Heavenly Father prunes too? He is fully knowledgeable about the areas, the branches, in our lives that are withering, have begun to die, that are no longer able to bear any good thing, ie fruit. See, He cuts it off, prunes it back. I thought I might have heard you say that didn’t seem very kind, but I wanted to remind you that sometimes we too choose to cut off what is dragging us down, what is sucking all of the nutrients out of our lives, what is causing us to wither.

I have these beautiful irises in my yard. They just all burst out in bloom this past weekend. Interesting though; they didn’t originate here. They also used to do nothing where they were planted before. In a past of mine, they lived at another home; I was seldom able to be there and so they rarely got attention. I brought them here, I transplanted them, to this very good home where they receive a lot of water and care, sunshine and nourishment. They have now multiplied. There are many more than I transplanted. They are growing and flourishing and bearing blossoms. They are thriving.

Beautiful You, you are a branch of a most important Vine, and you can thrive in the midst of your ‘I Do’, in the middle of the season of pruning you are in. You have a Master Gardner Who knows exactly what you need to flourish as He cuts you back to help you thrive and multiply, take root and bloom right where He has planted you.

What a promise ‘I Do’ is! Whether we are committing to a person or simply being intentional in life, our word should be a cherished commodity. This month, journey with me in ‘I Do’ moments which are an oath, a vow, a pact, a pledge, an honorarium.