This morning I am back in John 15, starting at the beginning, and reflecting on Jesus' famous teaching on being the vine. Here are the verses - John 15:1-8 NIV:
[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] 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. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
[5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
I was reading through some articles on pruning vines to make them the best producing and healthiest. Grapes only are produced on year old wood, and the pruning process has a couple of purposes. If left to itself the vine will put too much energy into growing leaves and vines and not enough into growing grapes. The pruning of the vine removes unhealthy parts, distracting parts and focuses on creating the perfect mix of new growth and fruit bearing. The optimal time for pruning is in the late winter, just before entering a new growing season. True pruning doesn't go for quantity of grapes at the expense of the quality. The vine dresser prunes the vine in a way that is appropriate for that particular vine, if it is well established and healthy the vine dresser will allow more grapes to form, if the vine is newer, the focus will be on shaping the vine to the support structure, and establishing a few healthy main branches.
Here are some pruning tips from https://gardeningtheme.com/theme/pruning-grape-vines-in-two-easy-steps :
• Immediately remove disease- or pest-infested wood from the vicinity of the grape vine plant and burn it. Disinfect the pruning shears used to cut diseased wood with alcohol to prevent the disease from spreading to healthy plants.
• If grape vines are pruned too much, their yield will be reduced and the bush will become thicker and stronger. If, on the other hand, pruning is insufficient, the vine will yield more, but it will also become weaker. It is therefore important to maintain a balance between yield and vine growth.
• The grape vine needs support in order to grow upright. Keep this in mind when planting the vines and place the proper support (wire, stake, trellis, pergola and other types of support) above the vines so that you can attach new shoots to it.
Overall it is important to note that it is only year-old wood that grows grapes... and properly pruning the vine is essential to producing healthy, disease-free fruit. Normally a vine-dresser is looking for a limited number of branches that will in turn create an abundance of heathy and spaced out grapes. There needs to be enough space for circulation of air between the clusters of grapes.
When training the vine usually the vinedresser will wrap the branch around the support several times, creating a well supported branch. When choosing the main trunk, the vine dresser looks for one that is the most vertical, strong and healthy, and chooses the branches that are strong, healthy and well supported. In Jesus' commentary, He is the Vine, we are the branches.
The are some very clear spiritual principles we can draw from these simple examples.
1) Support is necessary for a healthy vine. This means strong healthy relationships with others in the body of Christ. I like the picture of the branch wrapped around the support. This picture seems a good example of having our lives woven together, with deep life giving relationships of mututal support and encouragement.
2) Pruning is essential every year to maintain an optimal yielding vine, with quality fruit.
The primary pruning takes place at the end of winter. If we are referring to our spiritual life, this would represent a season where life seems difficult, relationship with the Lord is not producing abundant fruit... but pruning is done at this time to limit any possible damage to the vine. Think of this as the Lord helping you get ready for a new season by removing some things that once were fruitful, but are no longer bearing fruit.
For the believer this type of pruning can seem confusing, especially when that which is removed was formerly fruitful and good. The Lord knows what He is doing, and that is preparing one for the next season of bearing fruit.
The vinedresser also cleans the vine during spring and summer growth periods. This pruning is removing shoots, branches and weak growths that will pull energy from the vine and the production of grapes. Again, to a believer this might seems strange when the Lord cuts some new interest, engagement or relationship that looks good, but in the end these would have been unhelpful. In these seasons we need to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing, and allow Him to remove things.
Finally, true life comes from Him and it is essential that we remain connected to the Lord! We need His word to clean us, and focus us. We will not bear fruit on our own, all life comes from our relationship with the Lord. We may go through slow seasons or difficult seasons where the Lord seems distant, and in those times it is essential to remain in Jesus, so we don't miss the next season of bearing fruit, and allowing His life to flow through us.
Thinking back to Jesus teaching this all to His disciples, these words were spoken at the Last supper and they were about to go through a very difficult season, followed by a season of great growth where remaining connected to the Lord was essential to their survival and success. We often don't have a good perspective of our seasons, where we are and where we are going. We need to trust the Lord sees all and will help us to maximise our fruitfulness in Him, by staying connected to Him. Daily prayer, reflection and listening is essential for us to stay connected.
As I was thinking back through my life, I see that seasons usually take longer than a calendar year, and at times I find that frustrating. I want to grow and produce fruit now... not years from now! I also see that my daily walk with Him, staying connected, is the most critical thing to maintaining a healthy faith. IT is so easy for me to get distracted, to start thinking only about myself, my needs, my wants that I lose sight of the fact that all life comes from Him.
Oh Lord, help me to better understand the season I am in, and help me to bear good and abundant fruit for Your Glory! Help me to understand and trust Your pruning process, and embrace the cleaning and pruning that You are about in my life. I do want to bear much fruit. I want to remain connected to You!
Amen!
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