A few days ago we had one of our grandsons over to help us with some yard work. The main job was removing a large number of suckers that had come up around the base of our crabapple trees. (For the non-gardeners, suckers are woody shoots that spring up around the base of a tree.)

They’re called suckers for a reason. As one expert says:

“While you might be tempted to leave a tree sucker, remove them as quickly as possible. A tree sucker will sap the energy away from the healthier and more desirable branches on top. Chances are, you will not be pleased by the plant produced by the tree sucker. Remove them to improve the health of the plant overall.” *

You’ve already figured out why I’m bothering to mention this. It makes a nice parable, doesn’t it? The “tree” whose health is at issue is me. (Check out Psalm 2, Psalm 92 and Jeremiah 17 for a slightly different but related figure.) The “suckers” that affect me are the things I allow to grow up in my life, which divert energy away from healthy growth. The expert is right, I’m not pleased by the plant produced by the suckers. And I’m sure the Lord isn’t either.

The answer is pruning. Cut them right off. Again a similar figure is given to us, by Jesus himself: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2) You might also look at Matthew 3:10.

And you might consider Matthew 18:8-9:

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

Jesus is not commending self-mutilation here. It’s not a literal hand or foot or eye that causes us to sin! It’s our mind, it’s where our heart is. Jesus is using a deliberately shocking figure to convey the necessity for ruthless amputation of things in our lives that lead us away from him. The suckers.

So cut off the suckers and the job’s done! Well, it’s not that easy. They grow back—this isn’t the first time we’ve pruned suckers on these trees. It’s sure not once-and-done with the harmful things that suck at our spiritual life. They come back. But it is possible to make progress. They tend to get less frequent and less strong, as we repeatedly cut them off. Eventually, one that is cut off enough times doesn’t come back.

It helps to have help. It made a difference having our grandson work with us. We can get help with the spiritual suckers too, from the fellow-believers in our lives. Cultivating those relationships, being with them and doing wholesome things with them, will help us stop putting so much energy into growing suckers.

Crabapple trees don’t grow straight. They put out branches every which way, and every main branch is crooked. Seems like an apt figure for the way my life grows. But convoluted growth is still growth. And it will go much better without the suckers.

Love, Paul

* quoted from gardeningknowhow.com