Looking off of our front porch, you see the most splendid tree. This maple, unlike the other trees around the house which are mostly trunk with foliage only on the top, has the shape of a vase. It has a beautiful shape and, it gives its shade in the hottest part of the day. It is a treasure!

As I was admiring it yet again, I noticed a number of dead branches on it, parts of the tree that were at one time living and useful but now just hang there, looking dead.

"We need a good wind," I thought to myself.

In reading a statement of Jesus from the Bible, I see that I too need a good wind. For according to John 15, we all are all like that magnificent maple. We are all beautiful and splendid in the way that God has made us, each one unique and yet all made in God's image. However, there are those dead branches which mar the goodness and beauty of our lives. They might be such behaviors as stretching the truth, manipulating others, or just being selfish. Their usefulness has long past. They stem from our sinful nature, our way of dealing with life apart from God. We need a good wind to restore us to the shape God intended. And that is exactly what God does. In John 15:1-2 Jesus says,

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more."

It don't imagine that anyone likes being pruned, just as no child likes discipline. We don't like being corrected. We much prefer doing things our own way. However, if we are going to grow more like Christ, pruning is exactly what we need. We should welcome God's Spirit to blow in our lives and make us better and more beautiful.