Cut or Pruned?

Early this morning a crew came to our house to cut down a large Maple tree in our yard as well as prune some other trees. I had worked out this morning and was pretty "sweaty" when they arrived. I went to shower and came downstairs and this is all that was left of our Maple, a stump. Just so you know, I take pretty fast showers...these guys are efficient!

Anyway, I was looking at this stump and thinking about how this tree was unfortunate in that his life was just cut short while the other trees in our yard get off easy by just being pruned.

This is much like our lives. In John 15:1-2, Jesus tells us, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

So, it sounds like we are going to get sliced no matter what we do, either we will be cut or pruned. So, we might as well bear fruit and be pruned rather than face the fate of my poor Maple tree.