Ever since I was a child, I always wanted a garden. There’s something special about being able to go in your own backyard and pick your own food. Not to mention A.J. Johnson and John Singleton made it look pretty dope in the movie Baby Boy. In the past couple years though, I wanted to get into gardening a lot more because of all the biblical references.
One day I decided to watch some YouTube videos about gardening, and came across a how-to video on growing apple trees. In the video, the gardener talked about how he doesn’t allow his apple trees to grow apples the first year. It totally threw me off guard. This gardener talked about how he physically stops them from bearing fruit. I think to myself “Oh my gosh, he waits an entire year, an entire year, for these apples to grow and when they finally bloom, he cuts them off”. My heart died a little bit.
These were his words
“With our apple trees I will actually stop them from flowering the first year because the fruit is so large and it takes so much energy away. And like I said the root development is so slow on apples that I don’t want to sacrifice that by saying ‘Hey, let’s get 5-10 apples on this tree’ at the expense of losing it. So what I’ll do is… when I see the flowers I’ll pick them off and I won’t allow the tree to flower the first year. “
–MIgardener
This immediately reminded me of our relationship and spiritual growth in Christ. Two statements were underlined in that quote. The statement about root development, and the statement about not losing the entire tree for 5-10 apples. Right now, I want to talk about the first one – root development.
In his video, MIgardener explains that apple trees take a long time to grow roots, slower than most other fruit trees. He says “The thing that kills them off the most, is inadequate root growth”. Jesus makes an identical statement about Christ followers in Matthew 13.
“Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died.”
“The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.”
I believe that as Christ followers, we often overestimate how deep our roots are. Just because we are rooted in Jesus, doesn’t mean we are deeply rooted in Jesus. I believe we have a tendency to think we are more spiritually mature than we really are. After multiple years of following Christ, do we still have shallow roots? Do we have adequate root growth?
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit”
–Jeremiah 17:7-8
The other underlined statement dealt with bearing much fruit. MIgardener talked about how he wasn’t willing to allow the tree to grow 5-10 apples, at the expense of losing it. This is true when it comes to us accomplishing goals and defeating strongholds for the kingdom and advancement of the Gospel.
God has given us great gifts, skills, and relationships that he wants to grow, build, and develop into ministries, but we have to be strong enough, spiritually, to bear those fruit. Our character and spiritual maturity have to be able to withstand the weighty fruit that God that intends to gift us with.
In the video MIgardener discusses how he prunes and trains the branches, to prevent them from snapping whenever the tree begins to bear fruit. He then explains how he cuts off the flowers when they begin to bloom the first year. God does the same thing with us.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”
John 15:1
“When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”
John 15:8
The definition of pruning is “to cut off or cut back parts of for better shape or more fruitful growth”. God’s desire isn’t just for us to bear fruit. It’s for us to bear much fruit. You may be in a season where you’ve started to spend quiet time with the Lord daily. You may have gone through counseling and feel a lot healthier. You may have been hearing God’s voice more clearly, or you’ve grown exponentially in your skill. That doesn’t mean that you’re ready to pastor a flock. It doesn’t mean that you’re ready for that promotion, or to be in a relationship. Yes, you have started to bloom, but it doesn’t mean you’re ready to step into the full manifestation of where God is calling you. More than likely it means it’s time to be pruned. It means It’s time for God to groom you to produce much fruit.
The gardener explains that if he allows the tree to bloom it’s first year, he risks losing it. It is the same with us. If we lack the spiritual maturity and character that is supposed to accompany the fruit and opportunities he’s giving us, it will damage us. That weighty calling, fruit, or opportunity will hinder us and possibly break us.
I absolutely love how God compares us to trees. It’s such an accurate and beautiful depiction of what our walk with him is supposed to look like. I’m looking forward to growing deeper roots in the Lord, and experiencing him in some amazing ways. I hope this encourages you to do the same.
Sermons in Solitude 