Cutting and Pruning

A reading for Tuesday, April 28, 2020: Matthew 3:7-12.

"Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; 

every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

I don't know a lot about farming, especially about growing fruit trees. However, logic would dictate that if a tree in an orchard is not producing fruit and yet taking up land and resources in the orchard it would be good to replace that non-fruit producing tree with one that does bear fruit. That's not a bad thing. Is it?

Sometimes our first reaction to these words of judgment from Jesus are negative and even scary. Perhaps that's because it's connected to other words of judgment from Jesus about the scribes and Pharisees. To be cut down and thrown into the fire. Yikes!

However, what if we thought about such action as pruning to create new growth? Like in the example above. We all have things in life, habits and patterns of behavior, that need to be changed. Even some of our institutions that are no longer working should be cut out and replaced with things that work.

Would it be a bad thing for God to cut non fruit bearing things out and destroy them, so that new things that make life better and offer blessings might take their place?

Cut it down. Throw it away. God is planting blessings in that place. Thanks be to God!