Seems almost cruel to the bush but so necessary. The gardeners are currently tending, pruning, lopping any or all branches that are dead or not adding to the overall health of the bush. Once a large bush, now is showing signs of being trimmed, almost like a long-haired person suddenly receiving a brush cut. Yet the pruning process is not a haphazard approach. Carefully, the pruners circle the bush, nipping here, lopping there until they are satisfied that their work will enable the bush to not only maintain health but produce even a great yield next year. The unproductive branches must go so that the bush can thrive, unhindered by that which will retard its growth.

The analogy in the Bible speaks of our heavenly Father being a vinedresser, Jesus being the vine and we being the branches. As the branch draws its life from the vine and the vine gives its life to the branches, it necessitates that the vineyard is carefully tended so that the branches might produce a harvest of fruit. Barrenness draws the careful attention of the vinedresser. If the branch can’t be saved, it is removed. If it shows signs of life, it will be pruned and carefully tended in order that it might bear more fruit.

These really seem like harsh words but if our lives are to be productive and reproducing health in others, that which will not further those goals need to go. A little nip here, a lop there, is better than finding out, after all is said and done, that our lives have been disconnected from that life that only Christ can give.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit,”