Go down the rows of vineyards and rip out the vines,
   but not all of them. Leave a few.
Prune back those vines! Jeremiah 5:10 (MSG)

I often work with Customer Service teams for different companies. Through the years I’ve worked with teams who balk at the process of being assessed and coached. Often, there is a rebellious attitude throughout the team that keeps them from performing well and creates all kinds of stress for their supervisors and managers. I’ve learned that the best way to deal with this kind of situation is to prune the team. By moving people to different teams and bringing in new team members with different attitudes, you change the dynamic and those left have the opportunity to grow.

Pruning is such a great word picture for different aspects of life. We all need a little pruning from time to time. We need to prune back our commitments so we can have time and space for God to introduce new things in our lives. We could stand to prune back our ever increasing collection of “stuff” that clutters our homes, garages and storage places. Sometimes we need to prune back relationships that steal life and become self destructive.

What do I need to prune back today, this month, this year?