Being Pruned to Produce Fruit

By Madalyn Corkins

Have you ever wondered why Jesus used a vineyard to illustrate our walk with Him?  There are so many images from life to choose from, and yet He chose to use the vineyard.
When I remarried in my thirties, my new husband owned a small vineyard. I experienced the beauty of this analogy first hand.  We married in late summer, so all I knew of the vineyard was the wonderful vines laden with luscious fruit.  The girls and I helped pick the bountiful harvest and ate not quite as much as we picked. 
After the grapes were gone, I discovered an entirely new aspect of vineyard ownership.  The first frost came, the leaves had long since turned spotted and unattractive, and the bees were no longer after the sweetness of the grape.
On a bright, cool, Saturday in October, our new family arose early and walked to the vineyard.   Each of us had clippers, and my husband began his instructions on how to prune the vines.  His words were almost mathematical: “ At the base of the vine that comes from the main trunk, cut off each vine to within 2 inches of the large main trunk leaving only three buds.”  He explained that the fruit fartherest from the main vine would be small and not as sweet.  As we cut, a clear liquid oozed out of the end of each vine.  All morning we worked following our careful instructions.  There were long strips of bark on the main trunk that had to be peeled off so insects would not be making their home there.  Occasionally a snake would rustle away from the dense growth of the hanging vines to our horror.  With everyone working, we finished one long row by the end of the day.  All of the previous year’s growth and dead wood had been removed from the vine.  We gathered up all of the clippings, piled them high, and burned them so that disease was not encouraged.  I learned that the three things that a grape vine requires are nutrients for the soil, lots of water and bright sunlight.
On many such Saturdays, the reward for the completion of a carefully pruned vineyard row was permission to attend a basketball game that night.  On this particular day, my middle daughter became overly diligent.  In her anxiousness to complete her task, she pruned the vines to a dangerous shortness.  Too short.  We would have to wait until Spring to see if her over-pruning had killed the vines.
Spring came and all the nutrients