John 15:3 - Have You Been Pruned?

John 15:3
“You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.”

Grapevines, especially when professionally tended, are amazing. Sometime after the harvest, and before new growth begins, vine growers will take time to trim off all the branches from the previous year, leaving just a few stronger branches, which they tie to a taut wire to hold them firm while they grow for the next harvest.

When the growing season gets under way, it is amazing how little time passes before the bare, clean branches explode with fresh, new green leaves. It seems like they pop out almost over night!

Some grape vineyards have been tended for many, many generations. It is not uncommon to learn that vines planted by great-great-grandfathers are still being tended by great-great-grandsons. Each generation has passed on to the next the knowledge of how to trim, prune, and encourage the vines to produce year after year.

In this passage, Jesus compares Himself to the vine, us to the branches, and God to the gardener. We can see a few important things about our relationship to Him and God through looking at grapes.

There are a few facts that are universally accepted about how to tend to the vines:

— If you want a good harvest you must drastically trim back the vines once each year — as much as nine tenths of the vine’s branches! —

When our own desires are left unchecked, we choke out any new fruit. We can become so comfortable in our own lives that we forget our goal of bearing fruit for the Lord, and become more focused on making our own situations better. We must realize that we need pruning to be fruitful — and drastic pruning!

— Grapes only grow on new wood. —

If not pruned, and left to grow on their own, the vines might produce an abundance of fruit, but the quality is very poor — and sometimes the burden of so many branches and so much poor fruit strains the ability of the plant to support any harvest at all.

Have you ever seen someone busy to the point where they are not accomplishing anything? There are times when we would benefit from stepping back and looking at what it is that keeps us busy. Are we using our resources — our time, money, talents — to the best results? Or are we just — busy?

— Knowing when to prune is as important as knowing how to prune. —

Pruning too early or too late can damage the plant.

The good news? We aren’t responsible for pruning! 

God prunes — He knows when and how we need to be trimmed back for the best results. We simply need to look for His hand at work, and be willing to let go of the parts of our lives that God deems useless for His harvest — and remember that with every snip of His shears, comes the promise of more abundance.