John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.”

This is a verse describing a time of reflection/evaluation using the metaphor of a grapevine. God the Father is the grower of the vine, Jesus is the vine itself. If you read the rest of the chapter it suggests that Jesus’ followers are the branches on the vine, some of which are fruitful and some of which are not.

We’re coming to the end of the year. Yes I know it’s just mid November, we all know the remaining weeks of 2022 will fly by. So it’s at this time of year I begin to reflect on the various things to which I’ve been committing my time and energy this year. As is probably true of you, some of the things/people/projects/initiatives I’ve been investing in have been fruitful, some not. So these verses challenge me to remove things from my life that aren’t fruitful. Why? Because when we invest in things that don’t bear fruit it reduces the investment we can make in the things that do.

Logically this makes all the sense in the world, but sometimes my problem isn’t logic, but emotional process. It can be hard to admit that something didn’t work out or that some relationships are no longer life-giving. So today I’m asking the Holy Spirit to guide my discernment that I might choose wisely. Lord, let it be so. Amen.