Tag Archives: 28

Time for pruning

It’s almost that time of year, when the temperatures start to warm a little but it is still too early for the grapevines and fruit trees to bud…time for pruning.

I remember when our grapes first started producing. We collected buckets of grapes, and I thought, “Why bother with pruning? This seems to be working well just letting the vines grow.” But the next two seasons produced diminishing amounts of fruit. It seemed the branches didn’t have strength to supply nourishment to all the buds. While seemingly wasteful, pruning actually produces more fruit.

That’s the way it is in our lives too. None of us look forward to pruning away the unproductive aspects of our life. But spiritual pruning is as necessary for us as physical pruning is for the vine branches. We don’t have enough time or energy for every ‘budding’ activity in our lives. Pruning causes us to reflect on our dependence on God, it brings repentance, and reveals again the purpose of our lives, that is to enjoy our abiding in the vine and to produce good fruit. Pruning, as painful as it seems at the time, causes us to live a life of greater purpose and productivity.

We associate pruning with pain, suffering, and the stripping away of pride and focus on ourselves. But the purpose of pruning is to bring about a closer relationship with and dependence on the vine, that which allows us to produce more useful and mature fruit. Jesus, the vine in John 15, reminds us that apart for him, we can do nothing. Matthew 19:6 tells us there are things impossible for men, but that for God all things are possible. Romans 8:18 and 28 promise that the weight of this present suffering cannot be compared to the future glory it will produce; that God will work all things for good for those who love him. We can be thankful for pruning because it produces God’s best for us and those whose lives we impact.

What trials and suffering are you facing in your life? Instead of complaining and fretting over them, consider what positive effect this pruning could have on your life and how you – and others – might actually benefit from this season of drawing closer to God.

Then Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father takes care of the vineyard. He removes every one of my branches that doesn’t produce fruit. He also prunes every branch that does produce fruit to make it produce more fruit.” ~ John 15:1,2