November 26

He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. — John 15:2 BSB

One day, I passed by a garden where the gardener had just finished pruning. The wounds from the knife and saw were beginning to heal, and the warm April sun was nourishing the plants into fresh life and energy. I thought how cruel it would be to come back the next week and cut the plants down again—they would surely bleed to death. The gardener’s job now was to revive the plants and nurture them to life, not to cut them anymore.

So it is with the discipline of the soul. There is a time for dying, but it must not be always dying. Instead, we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ, living in His everlasting life.

Breathe Your own life through all my mortal frame,
Help me to claim Your resurrection power,
Which, through all changes, still remains the same,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Give me a foretaste of heaven’s joy, I pray,
Let faith bring the everlasting day.
Walking in its light, I’ll live today,
O, lead me in the way everlasting!