Once upon a time there was a Great Tree in the middle of a beautiful garden. The Tree was so great that all the birds and squirrels of the world could come and make their home in It at the same time. There were thousands of branches on this Tree. Some hung low to the ground carrying the weight of their fruit, while others bounced highly above, just beginning to produce. On the very top was a new shoot that sprouted out proudly into the sunshine. The little branch was so excited to be on the top of the tree. He felt very happy knowing that everyone could see he was part of the Great Tree in the middle of the beautiful garden.
It was a glorious life, there on the top of the Tree. But there was one problem, every time the little branch got comfortable, the Great Tree started to make Him grow. Now, growing wasn’t all bad. It did make him taller and stronger. Yet there were times the little branch just didn’t want to grow. He didn’t want the life-giving sap flowing through his little stem into his shiny new leaves. It didn't always feel good. Sometimes, it just plain hurt. The sap from the Great Tree stretched and hardened his bark. It pulled and widened his leaves. Something seemed to always be happening in him that was beyond his control.
The little branch had had enough. His bark was hard and strong. His leaves were bushy and green. And very tiny bunches of unripe fruit hung gently from his branches. But none of that swayed his determination. He didn’t want to grow anymore. He didn’t want to be stretched. He didn't want to be controlled. So one day, as life-giving sap from the Great Tree was rising through his stem at a rapid pace, he constricted himself around the liquid, all but cutting if off. “Hey, that wasn’t so hard,” he thought to himself, “I’m finally in control.”
For the next few days, the little branch squeezed and constricted the life-giving sap and kept it from reaching his leaves. It wasn’t long before he didn’t feel the pain of growth anymore. He actually began to not feel anything at all. What a relief. He could finally breathe a little.
In all of his new-found comfort, the little branch forgot about his budding fruit and his shiny leaves. He didn’t recognize that the little birds and the squirrels never played on him anymore. And frankly, he just didn’t care.
One day, a little boy passed by the Great Tree. The little branch noticed that he didn't look happy, as most children did when they would pass by on their way to school. Instead, this little boy looked very frightened and thin. "He must be hungry," thought the branch.
The child had wandered into the beautiful garden and become lost, not knowing how to get home. Just the thought of this made the little branch very upset. He'd been fascinated by little children since he first began to sprout. “I know, I will help him," he thought, "I’ll shake my fruit from my limbs and let it fall to the ground so the little boy can at least have something to eat.” Pleased at himself, the little branch looked up to see which limb held the ripest and plumpest of all the fruit. To his horror, what he saw was a mass of leafless, lifeless limbs with only rotten fruit where the healthy fruit used to be. His bark was gray and peeling off, and his shiny green leaves were nowhere to be found. “What's happened to me?” he thought.
And then, a great voice came from below. It wasn't a thundering voice with harsh, cold tones. Instead, it was a gentle whisper: “Without Me, little branch, you can do nothing, for a branch cannot live or produce any fruit when it separates itself from the life-giving sap of the Great Tree.” Saddened and ashamed, the little branch hung low and the little boy continued on his way. How horribly sad. The little branch had missed the chance to give life to the child. If he’d continued to grow and allow the Great Tree to give him life, then he would have been able to provide the little boy with something he desperately needed…fruit.
John 15:4,5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. If any remain in Me and I remain in them, they produce much fruit. But without Me they can do nothing.
I wish I could say this story has a happy ending. It doesn’t. You see, the little branch was so devastated by what he'd done and so broken-hearted for being unable to help the little boy, that he eventually fell from the top of the Great Tree in the beautiful garden to the ground and wasted away.
The same is not true for you and me. We don’t have to fall to the ground and waste away. We can allow God to grow us anew, again. We can choose to stop restricting the Spirit and allow the life-giving sap to flow through our veins, even if it make us a little uncomfortable here in this life. Growth may be painful, but being unable to bear fruit for the benefit of others is even more so.
My friend, the question is...are you squelching and squeezing the life-giving sap of the Holy Spirit? Are you allowing your own desire to be in control of your life to terminate your ability to bear fruit for Christ? Have you stopped growing and producing fruit and are you even aware that you have done so?
Good questions, that need answers for all of us. Let's pray right now and ask the Spirit to show us how we’re growing. There’s someone, possibly your own child, in need of fruit today. Surrender your will to the Great One. Surrender to His life for you and through you, and then shake your branches and let the fruit fall to nourish those around you who are hungry.
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