In Praise of Pruning!

We have an apartment house right outside our back door. I never noticed it until this morning while I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing but it's there. You see, we have this giant tree that has had some dead, diseased branches removed. Each place where a branch used to be is a hole that has now become a nesting place for little birds. They don't seem to mind the close quarters and happily fly in and out, feathering the nests and guarding them from "outsiders" that would try to intrude.
As I watched them, and listened to their beautiful sounds, I was reminded of the verses in Matthew 6 that tell us that although God cares for each of these little creatures He loves us so much more!  Through an unlikely procedure of removing dead branches, He has provided a safe and secure place for these bird to call home. How much more will He care for me!
How amazing our God is!
      And consider this - I'm sure when those branches were being pruned, the tree experienced a certain amount of shock but that soon gave way to additional health and wholeness for the tree! Sometimes we want to hold on to crippling and diseased things in our lives that do nothing but cause us pain and lead to eventual destruction. All the while, God wants to prune off that deadness so that we can become a more perfect home for other things that will enrich and renew us. He takes our sin and bad habits, if we let Him, and prunes them away so that His Spirit has a beautiful and clean place to dwell. He will replace our negative thoughts with His precious ones. He will bring new relationships to us that fill & complete us in ways the shallow, negative ones never could. He renews our minds, comforts our hearts, supplies our needs, & gives us great joy even in the midst of trying circumstances.
     I have known many Christians who started their journey with the Lord but refused to give up their old lifestyle and eventually their unsaved friends drew them back to their former ways. While God warns us that this is possible, it doesn't mean we have to abandon former relationships completely. It just means we have to cultivate positive ones & put boundaries on those that would influence us to go the wrong way. The same is true with activities, habits, or any other thing that causes us to stumble. God has so much more for us than the world has given us. We just have to be willing to let Him prune us, shape us, and make us new! It may hurt a little at the time, but the end result will be well worth the temporary discomfort!