Anyone who works with plants, knows that the pruning process is vital to maintaining the growth of the plant. The purpose of pruning a grapevine is to make a branch more even more fruitful by cutting away unnecessary wood so that which is left over can bear even greater fruit.
Now, I have discovered two keys about pruning in my short time as wanna-be green thumb. The first is before you prune, you better know exactly where you are going to prune. If you trim at the wrong place, you will probably do permanent damage to the plant. So before you pull out the shears and start, you better know exactly where you need to prune. But the second key is as important as the first. You better know what time is best for pruning the plant. Because just as pruning a plant at the wrong place, pruning it at the wrong time, can also do permanent damage to the plant. So before you go out and start pruning, you better know where to cut and when to cut.
You know what, even though as one of Jesus’ disciples, I don’t get very excited hearing about being pruned, I take great comfort in the fact that it is the Divine Gardener who is pruning me. He knows exactly where I need to be pruned and when I need to be pruned. There is no one else on this earth including my wife, who knows that about me. So we must be very careful not to take the responsibility of pruning another Christian on ourselves because chances are we will cut the wrong place and the wrong time and do damage to the other person. Only our Gardener Father knows that and is qualified to prune us.
In His Infinite Wisdom, the Father may choose to prune us through events that He allows to happen in our lives. But as Jesus points out in verse 3, we can also be pruned through the word of God. Notice how the New Living Translation renders verse 3, “You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you.”
Now I can only speak for myself, but it seems as if this pruning is a constant and ongoing process in my life. It seems like every time I read the Bible, the Divine Gardner shows me how I can be even more fruitful. It might be how I can be more patient with those who try my patience. It might be how to be more loving to those who seem to be unlovable. It might be how to have more faith when I can’t seem to see beyond today. Whatever it is, the Lord knows how to prune me to be more like Him.
If we are truly disciples of Jesus, we must each go through this pruning process. It may be unpleasant, and sometimes downright painful but in the long run, we will bear more fruit for as Jesus reminds us in verse 8, for the Father’s glory.
As we have looked at the grapevine, we have discovered three lessons. The first is that we were created to bear fruit, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we discovered that the only way we can bear fruit is to constantly abide in Jesus. And finally we discovered that as disciples we each must go through the pruning process.
I must admit that one of the great pleasures in life is going to a healthy grapevine, and seeing luscious grapes ready to be enjoyed. And I know that there is nothing better for the Divine Gardener than seeing a group of His children bearing the fruit of the Spirit. May we be those branches for Him.