Unpruned Fruit

Although I am by no means a gardener, I am familiar with the concept that in order for trees, shrubs & other plants to flourish, they must be trimmed.  I always have difficulty understanding why you have to thin out by trimming off perfectly good branches.  To the untrained eye, that seems nonsensical.  But, any green thumb will tell you that pruning is a necessary step in order to have beautiful, fruitful & healthy plants.

I recently read an article in my hometown paper about a local green thumb who did not heed the advice to prune back her peach trees.  She thought, as I do, that her peach tree would be alright if she didn't prune off most of the small, healthy young fruits.  Unfortunately, when the peaches ripened, the branch broke under the weight of the all the peaches.  This left her tree weakened...pitiful.

Photo by Linna Roemer

I can't imagine a better analogy to my everyday life.  Although I don't have a lot of control over all the things we say yes to in ministry, it is clear that we frequently find ourselves overwhelmed with the sheer magnitude of things that need to get done & require our attention.  It's incredibly difficult to say no to anything because frankly, when you are talking about a matter of faith, it's hard to say no!

But, that being said, how good am I to anyone if I am spread thin?  Isn't it more powerful to do a few things right than to do a bunch of things half-hearted?  As I go about my week, I plan to think about each thing I'm doing & whether it is adding value to my faith, family or personal well-being.  If not, then I might have to get out my pruning shears.