Knowing what to leave behind

I love hiking. There is a freedom and a challenge in knowing that everything you need is on your back. It is a science knowing what to take and what to leave behind. When I went on a leadership challenge class through Biola University I had a ton of stuff I was carrying for myself and other hikers. As I was helping others with their stuff, I think what really got to me was someone had brought a Bible in a metal case. The thing was a brick! A little paperback Bible would have done the trick.

On another hiking trip someone brought their school textbooks. They were massive! We were already burdened with tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, food, stoves, clothes and 16 pounds of water per person. There are some things that are better left behind.

In life the same things hold true. We have only so many choices we can make and only so much time. Sometimes we must choose to move forward and leave behind dreams and possibilities.

Today my wife was cutting back the roses. She was a little concerned with my taunts about taking the hedge trimmer to the hulking beasts. She painstakingly cut back the branches and trimmed all the growth. All the flowers and new foliage was gone.

I thought to myself how it would feel to be cut back. All the great stuff cut away and left with stubby stalks. No way.

And yet I know the growth that will happen for the rose bush. In a month it will be full of great flowers again and even better growth. One thing that is nice about living in San Diego is everything grows year round. The bigger problem is too much growth.

Jesus talks about pruning in John 15. He says that any branch that is connected to the vine will be pruned so that it will produce even more fruit.

I like fruit. It looks good and tastes good. I like growing my own tangerine, apples and figs. The figs are just at the end of the season here and they so juicy and sweet. As soon as the crop is done I will prune the whole tree back so that it will grow great fruit again next year.

In my life I am going through a preparation time. God is pruning me back in areas and showing me what to leave behind. It is hard though to know what is really important. I want to hold on to my stuff and my dreams.

An yet one word comes to mind. Simplify. It is the idea of leaving behind all that does not matter.

So I submit myself to the pruning shears, trusting that after all is said and done I will bear fruit.