Babies are fun. They just are. They eat, sleep, cry, and poop. Not much more than that. Sometimes they crack a smile and giggle, but usually that’s a result of gas. They can’t feed themselves, hold a bottle, or even read a book. If any accident happens, it is most likely not the fault of the infant. Rather, because we, as adults, have an unsafe environment. You know, all the things we do to “child proof” a house. Securing cabinet doors and moving bleach and detergent away from the wandering hands and curious minds. We lock drawers that house sharp knives. We do whatever we can to minimize the potential for a catastrophic accident in our homes when it comes to our children. Why? Because we love and care for them. It’s our job. It’s our responsibility. Not only that, but as our children grow, we want to enable them to accomplish great things for God. We do that by giving them every chance we can to help them learn to read, write, and study other subjects in school. It’s a pruning process.
In John 15:2, God gives us an excellent example of the care he provides for us. He does this much in the way we care for our own children. Jesus said He was the vine and that God the Father was the vinedresser. Another word for vinedresser is Gardener. Have you ever thought about God as a Gardener? A gardener protects and cares for His garden. In the case of the illustration used here in John 15, God is one who cares for the branches, tends to them, prunes them, and helps to keep them away from the ground. Any branch that spends time on the ground is basically good for nothing and will not produce fruit. It will eventually rot. So, the gardener will lift the fruit branches away from the ground, tie them together, and at that point are enabled to bear fruit. If God cares for us, and if He desires that we live abundant, fruit bearing lives, and if He enables us to do that, are we willing to go through the pruning and lifting process for His glory?
I wonder…how do we live our lives? I know the 3rd grade response is to live for rice crispy treats and chocolate chip cookies. But, what is the 20 year old response? “Live for today because tomorrow may never come.” But, what if it does? What is the 30 year old response? “My kids are first. All else comes after our kids.” “I’m going to seek my child’s desires. I might even seek my own desires and live them out through my kids.” Nobody ever does that…..I’m sure…
What is God’s response? He gives us the necessary things, but not necessarily everything. If He gave us necessarily everything, we would never grow up, never take responsibility, never have a sense of need, never keep a job, and never move out of our parent’s house. For most parents, this might be the worst nightmare scenario possible.
Take some time today and ponder your relationship with God. Do you view Him as one who cares deeply for you and who is actively working in and through each circumstance you face to strengthen your faith in Him so that you will bring glory to Him?