Her hands were wrinkled and marked with dark age-spots. They were often caked with dirt and marred by thorns as she tilled the soil and tended her garden. She only needed to run her hands through the dirt to know which plants would thrive and which would wither away. A simple tap of the soil with a single finger would signal to my grandma if her garden needed water.
From preparing the soil to sowing seeds and even nurturing delicate seedlings, grandma seemed to always know what was needed. As the garden grew she would prune the plants without hesitation, knowing that if she didn’t remove the branches that were not strong enough to thrive, they would only hinder the growth of the rest of the plant.
Just as grandma knew how and where to plant her garden or when to prune unwielding branches, God is planting, nurturing, and pruning us. We know this from John 15:1-17. According to this passage we are given a strong and true vine as a base from which to grow. That true vine is named Jesus.
Jesus is the true vine, we are the branches, and God is the Great Gardener, who lovingly tends and prunes branches to make them fruitful.
Written by Dena Moore, IRSM´s yearlong intern, starting August 2016