Pruning Hurts

John 15:3


"You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you"


I am not grape vine expert but what knowledge I do have is from reading about those experts. Grape vine pruning most of the time happens during the Dormant phase of the plant. This is the best time to prune because all of the nutrients are stored in the root system. A gardner does this to help the plant to produce fruit the following season. In the long run pruning will help the production of fruit to increase.


There is a lot of things to glean from the parable of the vine dresser in John 15. What stuck out to me was verse 3. Jesus explained that we as Christians have been pruned and purified by the message given to us. Once we have become Christians God prunes us for fruit production.


Pruning hurts doesn't it? Those things we have held on for so many years. Those things that have become our identity is now laying on the ground. The intial feeling is what is next. During the salvation transformation we have that feeling. I have asked God to save me but now I don't know what to do. I feel bare and weak.


It's a process that we must go through. We are connected to the true vine which is Christ himself. Those nutrients will now be released to the branches. The only outcome should be fruit. Will it be a lot? Who knows? There but further pruning may be needed.

From what I can read grape vines should begin to produce a decent crop after about 3 years. If not obviously the branches are not getting the nutrients needed to grow. The connection isn't there. Am I saying that those who do not produce fruit are not Christians? No, that is something only the True Vine would know.