SLOW: THE FRUIT

THE PRAYER          

• Find a quiet space.            


• Breathe deeply and recognise God with you in this moment.            


• When you are ready, speak to God about this time together.            


• After you've finished praying, go through the following passage a few times slowly and thoughtfully (preferably out loud).      


• Allow God to meet you in these words.

God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. Amen. Psalm 139: 1-2 (MSG)

THE FIRST READING

Read this passage slowly (preferably out loud) as you allow God to meet you in these words. Pay attention to anything God might be saying as you do.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5 (ESV)

RESPONSE

Take some time to respond (write down, draw, pray, etc.) to God’s prompting in the first reading of the passage. What is he highlighting and saying to you through this?

THE SECOND READING

Read the passage again (slowly and preferably out loud) through the “lens” of what The Spirit highlighted in the first reading. Listen for anything else the Spirit might be saying.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5 (ESV)

THE REFLECTION

Saved. 

That is a word we throw around a lot as Christians. We wear it like a badge to define who we are. A “line” between those who are “in” and those who are “out." But, have we really stopped to consider what it actually means to be saved in the first place? What exactly have we been saved from and what exactly have we been saved for?

These are important questions if we are serious about following Jesus. Failure to think carefully about them will likely lead us to the kind of Christianity that is all too common in our day- one that sees little difference between the lives we lived before our “saving” and those we live after it. It is a kind of Christianity filled with “cheap grace” in which Jesus is a sanctifying veneer to accommodate our stubborn resistance to actual, Christ-like change. 

The danger of it all is in how easily we can end up worshipping a Jesus who is more a reflection of our own preference than of the God we so long to know. This is not God’s heart for us. We have not been saved to be left stranded in our dysfunction. God wants to heal us. 

Or, in the words of John 15, God is after fruit. 

Unfortunately, fruit doesn’t come without pruning. And pruning can be painful. That's why we resist it. Many of us have not yet accepted the inherent discomfort of the Christian faith. As a result, we recoil from the light of Jesus as he pulls back the curtain on the lingering remnants of the false self to which we must die if we hope to live into the true self that has been resurrected in Christ.

In slowing down, we open ourselves up to God's Spirit, in whom there is no darkness at all. We should expect some holy discomfort. It’s not always easy to have our eyes opened to God at work all around us. It can be jarring to see what we have been trying very hard to ignore. In these moments it is so important to remember who God is. He is not only a God of growth, but also one who is willing to allow our discomfort if it leads to His Character. He is also good. Because we can trust His nature, we can endure His process.

As Christians, pruning should be no surprise to us, whether we find ourselves in a season of fruitfulness or in a space that is barren and bare. However, when the pain of His process feels weighty, it is good to remember who is doing the cutting. 

He is the Vine, and His Father -Our Father- is The Vine Dresser.