Dennis McCleary

Mt. Olivet U.M.C
717.456.5667
momnpastor@verizon.net
840 Broad Street Ext.
Delta, Pennsylvania 17314

June's

I was sitting at my desk one morning, and suddenly I began hearing a lot of noise and commotion outside. It sounded like a convoy of trucks. Now that’s not unusual, but it sounded like they were stopping along the road in front of the house. I quickly opened up the blinds and discovered there were four orange bucket trucks with additional trucks having shredders ready to devour all the branches that fell to the ground. Yes, the trucks were there to trim the tree branches away from the electric lines. The trimming would help to keep the branches from breaking off during a storm and stopping the flow of electricity to our homes and businesses.

I watched in amazement as the men in the bucket trucks maneuvered to position and quickly began cutting off branches. They extended over the top, in between, and underneath the electric lines to get into a good position. Branches were falling to the ground, and it wasn’t long until you could plainly see the power lines that had been hidden before. With purpose and precision they cut the branches, as people below quickly made mulch of them as they dropped. It wasn’t long until they had moved on to another area that needed to be trimmed. Now, a week later, you would never know they were there unless you had watched them out the window, too.

Today I sit at the window and look at the electric lines that are flowing with electricity to our homes. The purpose of the pruning was to give the electric every opportunity to flow unobstructed through our community. Let the electricity flow! Then I thought of the words of Jesus:
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15: 1 – 5 NLT

God prunes us so we might produce fruit that will fill this world with His loving presence. The fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Those fruits are produced in our lives as we yield to God’s pruning our branches so we might bear more fruit. Let God’s Spirit flow!

June is a month for us to celebrate Father’s Day and our graduates. May our prayer be for them to be yielded to God’s pruning so they might live fruitful lives – a life that fills our community with God’s glorious presence!
Think about it!
Blessings, Pastor Dennis