Pruning is necessary work when one is wanting to grow a strong fruit bearing tree, a grapevine or a beautiful rose bush. This work is the selective removal of parts of a plant to improve or maintain health, prepare for transplanting, to reduce the risks of breakage and to increase the quality and yield of the fruit. Pruning shouldn’t be done at just any ol‘ time, it must be done at the right season. For many plants it’s best to prune when the tree or bush is “asleep” for the winter, before the sap begins to flow very much. Often times pruning is done when the first little buds are beginning to grow. Sometimes it feels counterproductive to cut a branch that is developing new buds, but what we do when we prune is to actually strengthen the branches. Branches that grew long and held beautiful fruit last year must be cut back so they can grow stronger at their base. This will allow the vine or tree or bush to hold more fruit in the next season than it could otherwise.
After a tremendous harvest, before pruning
Imagine a grapevine that was full of fruit last year. In the winter the leaves fall off and the vine rests. At the end of this rest period it’s time to prune. If we didn’t prune the vines, the long gangly branches would continue to grow and the weight of the fruit would cause the branches to fall to the ground, wasting the fruit, or the branches would be so close together causing the fruit to mold. The branches could even break under the weight of the fruit. When the vines are pruned the branches will be able to grow stronger and they will be able to hold more fruit in the upcoming harvest. If the vine wasn’t pruned it would produce a lot of fruit but the fruit would be low in quality because the vine would have to spread it’s resources very thin to produce all the fruit that is developing. When we cut back the branches we allow the roots to supply nutrients to the vine and it’s fruit, leaving more resources to develop high quality fruit.
Pruned Vines
The same is true for us. When we experience a “high” in our walk with the Father we are often allowed a time of rest before it’s time to work again. When the Father brings us to a season of pruning, we sometimes feel like we’re being punished or we struggle deeply and don’t always know why. That must be how the vine “feels”. “I produced all this wonderful fruit for you just a few months ago. I thought we did well together and now, here you are, cutting me to pieces! What did I do to deserve this? Don’t you care that you’re hurting me? Are you listening?” What we don’t often realize at the time is that without the pruning in our lives, we’d grow weak and our fruit would be of a poor quality and wasted. Even good things need to be pruned. Continue reading →
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