Pruned And Blessed

As a pastoral counselor, I saw again and again what great release of fear and pain believers in Christ experienced when they admitted their failings, their sins and their guilt. What peace and joy was theirs when they received the forgiveness and mercy only Christ can offer through His cross. If you are one of those, even if you are caught up in some addiction, Jesus offers freedom from the vicious cycles you are in. He brings peace and joy in God's love.

Jesus speaks about this in His analogy of the vine and its branches.

"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. John 15:1-2 ESV

Pruning a branch means cutting away shoots that draw away energy and prevent it from bearing fruit. Jesus says that every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

In the original Greek language the verb for prune in Greek is kathairoh  (καθαίρω).  That particular verb is used only once in the NT—here. Its the basis for the Gk. noun for clean (καθαρός). From this noun comes the English word catharsis —emotional release, relief, release,venting, purging, purgation, purification, cleansing. 

Study where that clean noun is used in the NT and you find such passages as these: 

Mat 5:8 ESV - "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Jhn 13:10 ESV - Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you."
Jhn 13:11 ESV - For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean."
Jhn 15:3 ESV - Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Fascinating! How wonderful it is to be pruned. It means that the sin is exposed. Exposing sin is indeed painful. And may take some time. But our Lord allows us to go through this pain precisely so that He may speak His Word of grace and forgiveness to us: You are clean! Cleansed and thus able to draw near to our pure, holy God. The Scripture says, 

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.Hbr 10:22 ESV

Notice the very appropriate connection with Baptism! The Father prunes. He causes the Law to expose our sin and our temptations to sin, but then He brings us to our Baptism. We are once again buried with Christ and brought out of death to life. This is cathartic indeed. What an emotional and spiritual release. No longer does the sin weigh upon us. No longer are we burdened by guilt. We are cleansed. We are pruned! Our hearts, our entire inner lives are sprinkled clean from evil consciences and our bodies, our entire beings, are washed with pure water, the holy water of Christ's baptism. 

So we become pure in heart and we see God! We see Him as our Papa, our Abba and we are His children, adopted by Him into His family. 

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"- Rom 8:15 ESV 

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" - Gal 4:6 ESV  

Praise the Lord for His Word. We thank You, Father, for welcoming us as Your children and allowing us to cry out, "Abba! Papa!" Personally, I am reminded of our trusting, caring, dependent little great-grandson. He's just now learning to say Dada. And we are approaching his first Baptism birthday!