‘The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And…’
Song of Songs 2:12
If there is anything that helps us understand a visual, it’s living it. Three months have passed since Days of Reduction was written, but it has not been a time of winter’s inactivity. When the Husbandman declares ‘the time has arrived for pruning the vines‘, He introduces unexpected things into our lives.
Pruning times like these leave us with a thousand little choices. Those choices and pruning’s purpose is twofold: death and life.
Jesus described the pruning process quite well:
Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life will preserve and quicken it.
Luke 17:33 AMP
The preserving and quickening comes in the form of the ‘And…’ that accompanies the pruning in Song of Songs 2:12. Indeed, what the Bridegroom shares next almost seems a contradiction in itself – if our lives are any witness to the seeming disparity at times.
Yet our witness will be of Him. (John 15:27; Acts 1:8b)
Bearing record of Him, bearing fruit through Him (‘witness‘) is the result of the establishing of the permanent trunk that lasts the whole life of the vine.
Before we return to the Song and the Bride’s responses to the Bridegroom’s progressive processes in her life, let’s linger a little longer in the vineyard with the pruning of the vines.
What takes place there provides a stunning portrayal in nature of how our witness of Him is formed.
~ It’s all about that trunk.
Before there is ever an established vine, there must be the establishing of a sound trunk. (Isaiah 11:1)
That is why young plants need care in starting off right. They don’t come pruned. Instead, you find an extensive root system and lots of bare shoots sprouting out the top.
At Springtime planting, all those numerous shoots need to be reduced to one, cut back to three buds.
Here we get a glimpse of why Jesus was so fond of the vineyard for sharing lessons about abiding in Him.
Once planted, the vine will begin to grow, pushing out new green shoots. No longer a wild mop of bare shoots, the green bears witness to the concentrated life flowing into the plant. When these several shoots are 8 to 12 inches long, the next step is to choose the best one and support it by tying it to a stake at the top and bottom.
We are even told what to look for: a strongly growing shoot, upright or nearly so, coming directly out of the old stem – that original one – not from the underground root system. Then, remove the other shoots.
Congratulations! You’ve just planted a new young plant. But to stop there in its training up process leaves a woefully undeveloped and weak plant destined to return to life from its underground roots.
If you are going to have a fruitful vineyard, there is work to be done;
it doesn’t happen by itself, by others talking nicely to it or by merely thinking itself fruitful.
Left unattended, entropy occurs.*
This principle of the vineyard applies both personally and corporately. A single vine does not a vineyard make; however, the health and quality of the produce of the vineyard depends upon the health and quality of the produce of each vine – fitted in its place in the life of the whole. (I Corinthians 12:12-27)
Through its first summer, as the shoot begins to grow, you need to continue tying it to the stake to keep it straight and prevent it from breaking in the wind.
Here we have what might well be the key to the health, vitality and fruitfulness of the vine. As an online cooperative extension on viticulture states:
‘This shoot will be your permanent trunk, lasting the whole life of the vine, so it pays to keep it as straight and upright as possible’.
The first year vine should have reached to or above the first trellis wire – about 30 inches high – during the previous growing season. If not, the next step is to cut it back again to three buds, followed by repeating the previous year’s treatment.
Though this treatment may seem drastic, and less than desirable, it is necessary in order to establish a sound trunk.
Embedded in the life of a vineyard is the faithful, cyclical work of the Husbandman. How many times he may repeat this treatment, we don’t know.
Suffice it to say that He does not tire, nor is He persuaded away from His vines bringing forth much fruit.
~ Gracefully Free
*entropy – a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder
photo credit: bluestardrop – Andrea Mucelli via photopin cc
Shammahs Field LLC/Shammah Ministries is the biblical counseling, life coaching, and spiritual growth ministry entrusted to Wayne & Nancy Bentz. You can learn more about the resources they have to offer at shammahsfield.com and nancybentz.com.
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