God offers His grace and provision equally to all, even the least beautiful and significant of us.

from Matthew 5:

44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

 

Even branches that are bearing fruit may be cut off if they do not serve the purpose of the Master Gardener.

Even so, this pruning stimulates root growth and ultimately strengthens the plant.

from Jeremiah 17:

7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
      And whose hope is the LORD.
       8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
      Which spreads out its roots by the river,
      And will not fear when heat comes;
      But its leaf will be green,
      And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
      Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Our deeds will produce the most beautiful fruit when our souls are submitted to the will of the Master Gardener.

from James 4:

6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: 

      “ God resists the proud,
      But gives grace to the humble.”

 

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

About 6 years ago I happened to be pruning the old growth off my rose bushes on a Good Friday.  Suddenly I felt the sharp pain of a thorn prick and looked down to see bright red blood dripping from my fingertip.  Ever since then I've used every Good Friday morning to prune my roses for the first time of the season.

Thorns came with the curse on creation at the fall.  Their very existence is our fault, for we all sinned in Adam.

The pain with which they choke us but a small taste of the depth of pain caused by our sin.

Thorns ironically composed Christ's earthly crown, a humiliation he suffered so that, wearing His heavenly crown, He might be glorified all the more.

That humble, wicked thorn: surely its place within salvation history must be Providentially ordained to work out our redemption and sanctification, but it will be abolished when our salvation is complete.

from Isaiah 55:

12 “ For you shall go out with joy,
      And be led out with peace;
      The mountains and the hills
      Shall break forth into singing before you,
      And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
       13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
      And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
      And it shall be to the LORD for a name,
      For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Today we relive the future history recorded in Genesis.  The serpent bruises The Seed's heel, but in three days The Seed crushes the serpent's head.

from Romans 5:

6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.