Center of It AllSýnishorn

In the front flower bed of my home, I have a rose bush. This rose bush grows beautiful, bright pink roses every summer. They are exquisite, but also such high-maintenance little flowers. Rose bushes require special care, so I will get up close and personal with this rose bush, giving it my undivided attention. Grabbing my pruning shears and gloves to protect my fingers from the thorns, this rose bush and I spend time together as I trim away the dead branches and prune what’s left from the fallen blossoms. I cut away all that’s dead, so new, vibrant pink blooms will grow instead.

Without fail, every time I find myself in the garden pruning this rose bush, I am reminded of a statement a dear pastor friend of mine made during his message on John 15, where Jesus explains that He is the Vine and we are the branches. The point of this passage is to remain in Christ, staying connected to Him for the source of all things in the Christian life. After all, it is written that He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. This passage of scripture also talks about how the Lord gently prunes away dead fruit and dry branches from our lives in order to make room for new growth. Sometimes this spiritual pruning goes unnoticed - we barely feel it, and sometimes the spiritual pruning is painful. This pruning is done to remove things we have allowed to be the center of our lives in place of the One who has made us..

And so every time my rose bush and I have a pruning appointment, I recall that one specific remark my pastor friend made, “When you’re in a season of pruning, remember, the Gardener is close”. What a word of encouragement! When I prune my rosebush, I am so close to the branches and blooms. I am so close, the blossoms can feel my breath. I am intentional with the cuts and tender with the snips, just as God is purposeful and gentle when He is pruning us. He’s so close; so close, in fact, we should feel His presence. We can trust the pruning of the Gardener. He is gentle and kind. He has good plans for us. There is a deep purpose for this refinement that re-centers us back to the One our hearts love - God! The Creator of the universe, the One who spoke a word and it was good, the One who formed the heavens out of the darkness, the One who from the dust molded us into existence, the One whose name is greater than the mountains high chooses to be close to us - because He loves us. He is the only One worthy, and He is the Author and the Center of it all!

Hebrews tells us Jesus is the Anchor of our hope and the Author and Perfecter of our faith. We don’t have much without Christ. If Christ is the Center of it all and we are truly in Him, then we are compelled to remain connected to what centers us. Then how do we keep Christ as the Center of it all in our hearts? We choose to stay connected to the Vine. To remain in Christ is not a passive action. When we remain actively connected to Jesus, through prayer, studying scripture, worship and biblical community, we realize we’re not alone. When we abide in Him, keeping Him at the Center, we experience greater intimacy with God, greater freedom from sin and greater joy in our lives. Abiding is a choice. Choose to keep Jesus the Center Of It All.