In the wrong place!!

John 15: 1-17

The wall at the bottom of our garden is covered in very thick Ivy. So thick in fact that it extends at least three or four feet from the wall on which it grows and hangs over the garden like a blanket of heavy cloud. Despite loving it for the backdrop of greenery it provides amidst the concrete and brick of a built-up area we have just had it all cut back. It’s not the first time we’ve had to do that, and it is obviously in a place where it thrives.

Contrast that however with another “occupant” of our garden which was my gift to my wife on a recent birthday (not allowed to say which one!). She decided she wanted a Cornus controversa 'Variegata' or Wedding Cake Layer Tree. We spent some considerable time researching where to buy the tree from and it arrived with a root mass that was three feet in diameter and it stood about twelve feet tall and was already growing nicely.

My wife decided that she wanted it in the middle of the garden so that the “layers” would provide a degree of shade. The gardeners dug out the hole and planted it exactly where she wanted it and for the first year, everything was fine. Year two, however, saw some decline in the tree and by year three it is as good as dead! The nursery failed to tell us that this variety of trees will not cope with salt and wind. Where do you live? They asked. “Blackpool” I replied. It quickly became clear that my wife’s birthday present was planted in the wrong place and would never become what we hoped for.

There are millions of people who are also in the wrong place, and I was once one of them. They live their lives in search of satisfaction and pleasure in things that cannot meet those needs and their lives are often hollow and unfulfilled.

The right place to be is made clear by Jesus. “Remain in me,” he said. In John 15 we are told that Jesus is the real vine that we need to be attached to and that God is the gardener who prunes us in a way that ensures we produce much fruit in our lives. A good gardener knows exactly when to prune the roses or fruit trees to bring more flowers and juicy apples. God lovingly does the same with us if we are prepared to submit to his handiwork.

Jesus says, “if you remain in me……then you will ask for anything you wish and you will have it……the Father will give you whatever you ask of Him in my name”.

Is there somewhere else you would rather be?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for loving us enough to offer us eternal life. Please prune us so that we can have an abundant life and cut out anything in our lives that may prevent us from growing more and more like you.

Weekly Devotional - Week 39