Bear Fruit

Every Branch that Does Bear Fruit He Prunes.  Apparently, the time to prune blueberry bushes (and by extension all berry-producing plants) is late January into early February. Before the sap starts flowing at the spring thaw, there is work to be done. One of the many articles that I have been reading to overcome my ignorance about growing blueberries says: “Be severe.” Anything thicker than one’s thumb is too old for a blueberry cane, since age indicates a decrease in the number and the sweetness of its berries. “Cut them all the way to the ground.” That way the sap will flow more toward the new growth and the better berries.

After that, one must go further still: “Take out about 1/3 of all the canes that are left.” Wow, that is severe and thoroughly counterintuitive! In my state of ignorance, I would have assumed that having more branches makes more fruit involving less pruning. But now I know better! [Of course, bearing more fruit increases the chance of attracting more bears, or bear-fruit.]

My thumb is not even slightly green; a master-gardener I am not. But God is crowned with the title, in John 15:1, the vinedresser—the Master of all master-gardeners! His thumb is not only green, but it causes everything it touches to come to life. Step aside King Midas—your golden touch only brings only death. God is the eternal gardener, he causes life and invites those who have come to life by his gracious touch, to join him in his activity of cultivating life in others. We are both his field and his fellow workers in his field where he is growing life (1 Cor. 3:9). His crop is Christlikeness!

God has no ignorance about his vineyard. “Every branch that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). His activity may seem severe, and his pruning knife may appear counterintuitive from the worm’s-eye perspective, but he knows what he is doing and does what is in accord with all he knows! “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

The question for us, then, is: do we trust him? His pruning knife may seem terrifying, but his character governs his actions. “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes” (Psa. 119:68). As we abide, which means to remain vitally connected to God by faith, his sap, which is to say his character, flows through our vascular tissues producing his fruit in us. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23). “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). God is growing godliness in his disciples.