The
Father as Vinedresser
What a beautiful analogy the Holy Spirit has given us
in the gospel of John: God the Father as Vinedresser and Jesus as the true
Vine. Many extant commentaries discuss the theology hidden in Jesus’
description of Himself and the Father, but I wanted to start with just plain
old agriculture!
And what a discovery of hidden gems I unearthed. First,
I simply ‘googled’ vinedresser. Of the top
seven hits, five were Biblical commentaries (great!) but the one I chose came
from work.chron.com which solely gave the ‘job description’ for vinedresser. Put
simply, a vinedresser is an agriculturalist ‘involved in the daily pruning,
tending and cultivation of grapes.’
Vinedressers need to work year-round to create the best grapes to
produce the finest wine.
A vinedresser’s main tasks include pruning, ‘pest’ management, irrigating (or giving them Living Water) and of course, harvesting!
But of these, their pre-eminent task is pruning. I
will just lay out all that I learned about pruning and you can apply it to your
own life circumstances. This information certainly illuminated some of my own.
Pruning removes dead, diseased or stunted
fruit to make room for new growth, ultimately leading to a healthy and
productive vine. This process begins merely weeks
after planting! Once we have come to Christ, the Father gets started working on
us right away taking away not only those dead parts (2 Corinthians 5:17) but
also those parts that are diseased or stunted and we may not even be aware of
their underlying condition. Excellent pruning demands a keen eye, the best
possible eyes.
Pruning involves both cutting off dead wood but also
cutting back on the amount of living
wood so that the plant’s energy can go
into producing fruit and not merely growing vegetation. In my life, I was
thinking of how much I produce that is merely for appearances and not really producing
anything of substance. According to God’s
plan, those parts are using up too much of my vitality and need to go.
There are two main types of pruning: cane pruning and spur pruning. Canes are shoots that grow directly off the Main Vine. Spurs are little arms that grow from a cordon (a semi-permanent branch that grows horizontally from the trunk). Cane pruning involves cutting back 90%!! of last year’s growth by first removing dead two year old canes. Spur pruning includes look at the newest growth and keeping only 1-3 buds and removing the rest (sometimes with a handsaw!)
The styles of pruning show me just how much God wants
me to grow and produce fruit each year, much more than I am currently imagining
for myself. In cane pruning, you select two well-formed canes coming directly
out of the Head of the vine (that are 1-year old with tightly spaced, healthy
buds) and these two are tied to the trellis. The Lord is keeping only the
healthiest buds and then we are to be tied to Him and hang on to Him for dear
life! J
God’s work doesn’t involve just pruning; he is also
feeding and watering us as well as controlling the pests. An agriculturalist
closely monitors the vines to ensure that they are receiving the correct amount
of water, particularly during growing season. Have you ever noticed that you
seem closer to the Lord when you are going through a ‘tough season’ or a
growing season when you need more of Him? That’s part of the Father’s plan.
Vinedressers also tend the soil, preparing it even before planting, to improve
the production of crops. God was preparing our hearts and our soil long before
we gave our lives to Him. Finally, the
Father must constantly evaluate the vineyard and be vigilant against pests
(like THE pest, the enemy himself) because invasions could compromise the next
growing season. We must guard our hearts daily, while the Father Himself is
keeping vigil over us for our next growing stage.
