One of my summer jobs as a teen was working at a plant nursery. Among our regular weekly tasks was de-weeding the greenhouse and preening off the dying parts of the plants.
Like most summer jobs the work was hard and menial; throughout the day, we would make a game of guessing how much time had passed since we last checked our watches. However, the job did at least two things for me: it helped me pay to go to college, and (perhaps more importantly) it helped me want to go college—if for no other reason than to grow out of the place I was.
Jesus uses an illustration from how plants grow to teach us something about spiritual growth. Just as the most important thing for a branch is to stay connected to the vine, we must abide in Christ if we want to grow and bear real fruit.
But be warned: if you commit to this kind of abiding, if you actually build your life and make choices rooted in this Vine, don’t expect applause from those around you.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (vs. 19)
There’s a reason most of us don’t remain in the vine: most days it’s an uphill climb and a lot of hard work. But maybe that hard thing—you know, that painful thing you’re up against right now and asking God to put a quick stop to—is actually just a necessary preening so that your growth will be strong. To skip on this preening would mean forgoing a harvest of fruit later, fruit you could never dream of producing left on your own. It’s what we’re all after, it’s just not how we expected to get there.
And so, today, in whatever summer job you may find yourself, take hold of the Vine, rejoice through times of preening, and cling to Christ’s life-giving promise:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. (vs. 4)
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