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“I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:1-2).
Yesterday we saw that we cannot produce fruit for God without a new life in Christ. In today’s verses we see two types of people—some who pretend to believe, and some who do believe, but need pruning to produce more fruit. The branch that does not produce fruit is taken away, for every true believer produces some fruit for God. The branch that is taken away is not a true branch; it is someone who pretends to be a Christian, but has no new life in Christ. Eventually they will come under judgment from God.
But some believers need pruning, for while they are already producing fruit, they could produce more fruit. We may not always like it when the Lord “prunes” us, for it means cutting off certain parts, like cutting branches off a tree or a grape vine. But sometimes there are things in our life that hinder us from producing as much fruit for the Lord as we should. When the Lord prunes those things off, we can produce more fruit for the Lord.
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