Principal's Ponderings

Wholehearted - Remain in Jesus

This week I have been thinking about Jesus’ words in John 15:

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:4

There is something beautifully ordinary about fruit trees. You plant them with hope. You dig the soil, enrich it, water it, stake it carefully. And then, you wait.

Fruit does not appear the next morning.

A few seasons ago, I planted a hopeful apple tree. I imagined crisp fruit in the years to come. I pictured shade, blossom, abundance. Instead, what arrived first were possums. Their version of “pruning” was not helpful. Tender new growth disappeared overnight. It felt like all that early promise was being stripped back.

Sometimes life feels like that.

You plant seeds of faith, leadership, parenting, study, character. You water them with prayer. And then something comes along and seems to chew away at the growth - illness, disappointment, grief, criticism, exhaustion. It can feel like loss rather than fruitfulness.

Yet, in John 15, Jesus speaks of pruning very differently:

“He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:2

Pruning in the hands of a gardener is not destruction. It is preparation.

There is a difference between random stripping and purposeful shaping. The possum takes. The gardener refines.

And Jesus tells us clearly where fruitfulness begins. Not with effort alone. Not with striving harder. Not with frantic activity.

“Remain in me.”

To remain is to stay connected. To abide. To dwell. To trust. To be wholehearted in our dependence on Him.

Wholehearted faith does not mean we never feel cut back. It means we stay anchored to the Vine even when growth feels slow, or when life feels reduced to bare branches. It means we resist the temptation to detach in frustration. It means we keep turning our face toward Christ, even in seasons that look unproductive.

Fruit in Scripture is character, love, patience, kindness, perseverance, faithfulness. It is quiet obedience. It is resilience in hardship. It is hope that refuses to wither.

And fruit rarely appears in the first season.

Apple trees take years before harvest. Roots deepen before branches widen. Stability precedes sweetness.

When Jesus prunes, He is not punishing. He is cultivating. He sees the harvest we cannot yet see.

So perhaps if you feel stripped back right now, remember this, pruning is not proof of failure. It is often evidence that growth is underway.

Remain in Him.

Be wholehearted toward Him. Stay connected in prayer, in Scripture, in worship, in community. Allow His Spirit to shape you. Trust that even when blossoms are not yet visible, roots are strengthening beneath the surface.

The fruit will come.

Not because we forced it, but because we remained.

And in time, what once looked like loss will reveal itself as preparation for abundance.

Shalom,

Chad Smit