Green Flames of Leaves like Praise
“Mama, watcha doin'?”
“Cutting away the dead parts.”
“Why?” Her favourite question.
“So the living parts can grow better.”
“Oh.” And off she trundles to play in the sandbox.
Jesus puts it like this, in John 15: “Every branch that bears fruit, [my Father] prunes, that it may bear more fruit.... I am the vine; you are the branches.” There's no room for quibbling here, about Who is in charge, or How. The Father is the master pruner; Jesus is the source of life. “Abide in me,” He says, “for apart from me you can do nothing” (italics added).
Outside Cabin 1, a tangle of at least five different woodsy species flicker green flames of leaves like praise. Slender hazelnut, bracted honeysuckle, prickly rose, red-osier dogwood, and leaning, greening raspberry canes are all under-girded by an aged poplar stump. Pruning this living puzzle is an exercise in flexibility and patience, like stepping right inside a giant knot that needs untangling.
As people of God, we're not so very different. At camp, we live and serve together. We grow and undergo pruning together, sometimes in very close quarters, just like the thicket outside Cabin 1. Our Lord is firm and faithful in pruning us back. There are many tasks at hand and many relationships to nurture, so the call for us in this season is to remain in Him daily, to sustain the focus that brings His fruit, in His time.
Thank you for your prayers to that end!
Please continue to pray for volunteers who are rooted in Christ.
Pray for responsive hearts to the Father's pruning, as evidenced in the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Pray for new grafts in! For new believers to accept Christ's life with joy.
Jesus goes on, in John 15, to talk about love and obedience. We know He really means it, because He's headed for the cross. And we know that tree yields fruit unspeakably sweet, and for eternity.
“Mama, watcha doin'?”
“Cutting away the dead parts.”
“Why?” Her favourite question.
“So the living parts can grow better.”
“Oh.” And off she trundles to play in the sandbox.
Jesus puts it like this, in John 15: “Every branch that bears fruit, [my Father] prunes, that it may bear more fruit.... I am the vine; you are the branches.” There's no room for quibbling here, about Who is in charge, or How. The Father is the master pruner; Jesus is the source of life. “Abide in me,” He says, “for apart from me you can do nothing” (italics added).
Outside Cabin 1, a tangle of at least five different woodsy species flicker green flames of leaves like praise. Slender hazelnut, bracted honeysuckle, prickly rose, red-osier dogwood, and leaning, greening raspberry canes are all under-girded by an aged poplar stump. Pruning this living puzzle is an exercise in flexibility and patience, like stepping right inside a giant knot that needs untangling.
As people of God, we're not so very different. At camp, we live and serve together. We grow and undergo pruning together, sometimes in very close quarters, just like the thicket outside Cabin 1. Our Lord is firm and faithful in pruning us back. There are many tasks at hand and many relationships to nurture, so the call for us in this season is to remain in Him daily, to sustain the focus that brings His fruit, in His time.
Thank you for your prayers to that end!
Please continue to pray for volunteers who are rooted in Christ.
Pray for responsive hearts to the Father's pruning, as evidenced in the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Pray for new grafts in! For new believers to accept Christ's life with joy.
Jesus goes on, in John 15, to talk about love and obedience. We know He really means it, because He's headed for the cross. And we know that tree yields fruit unspeakably sweet, and for eternity.