Get out your pruning shears (and give them to somebody else!)

Get out your pruning shears.....
                             and give them to somebody else!


I came across another choice item from the Chumash (the old Jewish commentary on the Torah - it is full of fascinating treasures) -- when the Jews were pruning their trees it was a practice to not prune their own trees, but to prune a neighbor's, and that neighbor would then prune someone else's trees. So all over the ancient land, you could see pruners out working in their neighbor's orchards, not in their own.

Why? Because good pruning requires deep cuts, radical removal of deadwood and diseased branches.

The owner is reluctant to make the drastic cuts needed for the health of his own trees. He wants to keep all he can. A good pruner wants to get rid of all he needs to. A good pruner is looking toward the future, not trying to preserve the present.

I know when I prune my roses, I snip a little here and there. But when I ask the gardener to do it, he attacks the bushes, topping them, and removing much more than I ever would. In fact, I am often angry that he removed so much of the bush! But then a few weeks later I have a vibrant, healthy row of roses, getting ready to bloom in pristine beauty. My feeble attempts would not have resulted in such a happy restoration of edenic loveliness.

This is a reminder to me, that when God is pruning me, shaping me, removing dead wood and disease from my character, He can do it a lot better than I can myself. And maybe my friends can do a better job, too, at pruning me than I can.  It's a certainty I am not good at pruning myself!

The ancient Jews had a number of fruit trees -- fig, mulberry, olive, apple, walnut, almond, pomegranate, dates...and grape vines. Pruning must have been a major task for the farmers.

About pruning:

1. It is selective. The accomplished pruner looks for diseased or unhealthy branches, non-productive limbs, out-of-control growth. He targets structurally unsound and damaged areas. He would rarely remove a healthy, productive branch, unless perhaps it was overshadowing the interior of the tree, preventing the necessary rays of the sun to reach deep inside to encourage future growth and productivity of the whole plant.

2. Younger is best. Usually the smaller the branch that is cut, the easier it is for the plant to repair the wound, which then limits the potential for  pathogens to enter and cause decay. So ordinarily early pruning is more beneficial than waiting for more mature growth.

3. It stimulates growth. Removing a portion of a growing stem, even if healthy, or cutting back, to buds, or side-growing stems, causes the plant to increase flowers and fruit.

4. It makes the tree or plant more beautiful. Cutting away the dead limbs and stems, allowing the vibrant green to stand out, just makes the tree or plant -- and the entire garden or orchard --  more beautiful. Newly forming buds and leaves remind us of life and God's faithful providence. It brings us pleasure. The sight of dead branches and diseased leaves reminds us that someone needs to take care of his trees!

We all need to be pruned, re-shaped, thinned out so the rays of God's Holy Spirit can penetrate deep inside. We need to be pruned so we can produce more and better fruit. We need to be pruned so we can reflect the beauty of God's grace.

Pruning is hard, precise work. I can't do it myself.

Pruning is sort of like God's discipline.....

My son, do not despise the LORD'S discipline

and do not resent His rebuke

because the LORD disciplines those He loves

as a father the son he delights in.

Proverbs 3:11-12

When we are judged by the LORD, we are being

disciplined, so that we will not be condemned with the world.

1 Corinthians 11:32

Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD,

the man You teach from Your law.

Psalm 94:12

Endure hardship as discipline;
God is treating you as sons.

For what son is not disciplined by his father?
 If you are not

disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),
 then you are illegitimate children and not true sons....

Our fathers

disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;
 but God

disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and

peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:7-11


[Maybe pruning is sort of like accountability?????]