“I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” (I John 15:1-2).
When the Master Gardener arrives at His vineyard, everyone sits up and takes notice. What follows might be painful. The branches which accomplish nothing are about to be lopped off, and the branches which bear good fruit can expect to be pruned.
None of this is without pain.
Yesterday, I went through the cuties–those little mandarin oranges we buy in a pack of two dozen or so at the grocery–and threw out several. We had gotten behind in eating them and one had gone bad, then was affecting (and infecting) those around it. To preserve ten, I threw out five.
In urging friends and family to eat more fruit, I remind them they should go into it knowing that sometimes they will have to throw out good fruit they allowed to spoil. It’s part of the price of keeping apples and pears, oranges and strawberries, bananas and blueberries in the house.
When I was a teenager, my dad set out several grape vines and pear trees in the small field behind our farmhouse. Even though he was a lifelong coal miner–who came from a long line of coal miners–Dad had married into a farm family and took to the life of a farmer with zest. Dad loved the farm, enjoyed working in the field and growing things, and was dead-set on making sure his six children grew up with an appreciation for the farm life. We did.
It was puzzling the first few times Dad took his shears and cut back the vines after the grape season had ended. It looked to this kid as though he had killed them. Sure enough, next year, there they would be–green and lush and loaded with delicious grapes.
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