I Heard It Through the Grapevine

Did you know that grapevines will only produce fruit on new branches that they’ve grown each year?

I was helping dad in the yard and he gave me the task of pruning the grape vine along the back fence. He instructed me on how to prune it and why it was important for the plant to be taken care of that way. He said that grapevines will only produce on branches that are a year old. Everything else becomes foliage after it has passed it’s year of bearing.

So, that means that you can end up with a vine that looks pretty and full, but doesn’t actually provide any fruit. The health of a grapevine isn’t based on it’s amount of vines and how far it stretches along the fence.

As I was left to the grape vine, shears in hand and new information in mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Jesus told his disciples in John 15.

Verses 1-3 say, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. ² Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” (HCSB, emphasis mine)

Before my dad told me about how grapevines work, I didn’t realize that they only produced fruit on new growth. I simply assumed that they were pruned to help keep the plant from getting too crowded (which is one of the purposes). But, this new information suddenly put the preceding verses into a new perspective for me.

If I want to be a branch that produces fruit, the Lord has to prune away the old in order to make room for the new. If I want my faith to grow, then He has to sanctify my heart. This means that He has to get rid of things that don’t push me towards Him. It means that I have to allow Him to cut away the things that are no longer beneficial.

These don’t always have to be sinful things. That’s definitely part of it, but there are a lot of things that need to pruned from my life that aren’t bad or sinful. It could be where I live, the relationships I have, the job I’m in, the habits I’m in, and other things that simply don’t cultivate the growth I’m in need of.

As a believer, I tend to think of pruning with this feeling of dread.

“It’s going to hurt.”

“I don’t want to let go or walk away from that.”

“I hate being out of my comfort zone. I don’t want to go that way. I’d rather stay here.”

All of these are ways in which I approach the process. But, the truth is, pruning is such a good thing. Yes, it causes discomfort – sometimes in major ways. There are things I will have to give up and let go of even though I don’t necessarily feel ready.

And that’s okay.

It’s okay to not enjoy the process of being sanctified. It’s okay to feel frustrated and wrestle with doubts that I have. It’s okay to not know what’s next and to feel afraid of that. It’s okay!! There is nothing wrong with having these emotions.

It’s what I do with them that matters. Do I shrink from it? Do I let my emotions rule me and keep me in the same place I’ve always been? Do I allow it to dictate what I do and to paralyze me at each decision?

Or do I square my shoulders, look it in the face, and walk forward? Do I take control of my emotions and not let them have the final say in what I decide to do? Do I welcome the changes as new opportunities to grow and thrive?

A grapevine that is not pruned is nothing more than a fence decoration unable to fulfill it’s life purpose.

I refuse to hang my life up on the fence.