Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Gardener

With pruning shears in hand, the gardener emerged from his garden shed. He shivered as the cold of winter hit his face. These cold dark months were sad for him as he longed and hoped for the growth that comes in the Spring. As he approached slowly, he stopped first to observe the vine before him. He had known this would happen, but he was saddened by the way some of the branches had become so weak and frail as they shot out from the vine in so many directions.

He was strong and yet gentle, swift and yet careful as he slowly purged the deadwood from the vine. With each crack, the gardener removed the branches that bore no fruit. They were lifeless with little purpose and dropped to the ground without much effort. After the dead branches were gone, the gardener moved on to his next task. With more difficulty, the gardener sniped his sheers at the live branches, cutting them back. To the ignorant, this pruning may have seemed unnecessary, but he could see the plans that lay ahead.

Snip... snip... snip... his shears danced across the branches as he shifted his head from side to side to gain perspective for which branch needed to be pruned next. When finished, he stood back up to observe his work. As his eyes scanned from the the clippings that now lay on the ground up to the top of the vine, he took a moment to reflect. A small smile took over his face for what he knew in his heart... this pruning, while so painful, is the only way to bring fruit in the Spring.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
John 15:1-4

Resurgence of AimClaim

Man, it has been WAY too long since I posted on here. I feel the time is now right for me to make an resurgence, to dig down deep inside once again to put into words the claims and thoughts of my heart. When I started this blog back in November 2005 (oh my gosh, i can't even believe it was that long ago), I started with a simple entry that ended with this "My goal with this blog is not to claim what I think as truth... I aim to seek truth... to believe truth... to share truth... to love truth... to live truth." For over a year and a half, I expressed myself through poetry, analogies and stories and shared them for anyone who stopped by to share in my journey. Thanks to those who supported me and encouraged me during that time... I am forever grateful. Thanks for coming back to see an old friend. I can't promise I will be quite so frequent in my posting (because I no longer have the free time at work that I once did back in '05 and '06), so I will simply commit to being open to the work that the Lord will do in my heart.

The Lord claims my heart... AimClaim