Sad Vines, Good Lesson

Published by christi on March 24, 2022March 24, 2022

My grapevines look very sad. And they are teaching me a thing or two, as usual, about God’s pruning.

Thanks to the recovery time dictated by a complete knee replacement, they have mostly not yet been pruned. Care for grapevines (if what you are after is fruit) means reduction of all previous growth by about 90%! The vines that completely obscured the quiet space should not be able to hide a zipper!

I have a pair of Thompson seedless vines that have been growing for almost 20 years! One got mostly pruned; the other has been neglected. The difference is remarkable! The untrimmed one has new leaves only coming out on the ends of the 20-30 foot vines. The one blessed with pruning has growth appearing close to the source of its life. Anyone else see a lesson here?

When God prunes me — removing things from my life, bringing in painful things to adjust my thinking and my choices —  He is not doing it because He is angry with me, or to pay me back for some indiscretion, but because He knows I will do better, be stronger, bear more fruit if I am closer to my source. Jesus says, “…every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”  (John 15:2b)

Prune away, Papa-God. I want to be fruitful! Even if the pruning comes late!

Following Jesus every day in the everyday,

Christi

P.S. I will update you when fruit-bearing season comes.