Day 107: Pruning For A Fruitful Life:
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!" —John 1:5-7
I'm not sure what Anderson sees as the correlation between the scripture and his anecdote of learning from his father how to prune the trees of their peach orchard when he was a boy. I suppose the connection he is trying to make is that unlike a tree, we can choose whether or not to abide in God. "Do we allow Him to take care of us, or do we think we know what's best and resist his care? Do we have branches that need pruning—areas of our lives that need to be cut away and discarded?"
Day 108: The Pain of Growing and Healing:
"I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding." —Philippians 1:9
Today's lesson is closely related to yesterday's in that, again, Anderson focuses on pruning areas of our lives that are not producing viable fruit. He encourages us to consider removing dead branches from our lives, "whether it's an old habit or an old way of thinking," so that we can grow strong.
As I've been typing I have been thinking of the dead branches in my life. What do I need to prune?
I know I have branches that need to be removed. Not because they are dead, but because they are alive and well, but are choking out other branches. Fear is a branch that definitely needs pruning. Fear of being taken advantage of, of being too naive and trusting, of being unsure, of being wrong, of being lonely, of being rejected, of being lost, of being ineffective and useless, of not reaching my full potential, of not recognizing the possibilities and chasing after them, of wasting time. Fear of what the future holds for me and my family. Fear of where our country is headed. Fear of _______. You name it.
He is for us, and "...if God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).
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