From July 20, 2017 I’ll admit, I did not like this when I first read it: “One evening a gentleman who was much depressed because of deep affliction, was walking in a garden, where he observed a pomegranate-tree nearly cut through the stem. Greatly wondering, he asked the gardener why the tree was in this condition, and he received an answer that explained to his satisfaction the wounds of his own bleeding heart. “Sir,” said the gardener, “this tree used to shoot out so strong that it bore nothing but leaves. I was obliged to cut it in this manner; and when it was almost cut through, it began to bear fruit”” (Ellen White, Review & Herald, April 10, 1894). I’m familiar with the John 15 idea that God prunes us in order to bear fruit. “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (vs 2). He may cut away the things that hinder us. But this? To be nearly cut thr...
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