John 15:2
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.
When I was a kid, I remember a time I went skating on the driveway. For all of you younglings, that is what we used to do before rollerblades. . . LOL! I fell and filled the side of my calf with some road rash, including small rocks. I ran inside and covered it with bandaids. Later, my dad came in and asked me what was with all the band-aids and I told him what had happened. He looked at me and told me he would need to take all of them off and clean the wound. Now, I will skip all the screaming and gore and just let you know. OUCH!!!!!! My father was right though. It would have never healed correctly if I had kept all the band-aids over the dirty skinned-up leg.
The word prune in Greek also means to clean. We, as humans, have nasty habits of putting band-aids over problems and trying to go on with our lives. We don’t like digging deep and getting to the root of the problem. We certainly do not like confronting it and cleaning it up. It is too painful. But our Father in heaven knows that is the only way to get the wounds to heal. It is the only way to get the new skin to grow and become a productive part of the body again.
Yes, ouchies hurt. We experience a lot of them in life. If you have been sticking band-aids on them, it is time to rip them off. Let God clean them out. It will hurt, but it will finally start to heal and you can move on with life.
I am not sure I am ready, Lord! But let’s rip off those bandaids and start the growing process. ~amen
www.tabethafrick.com
Copyright © 2022 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved