I looked at my garden this spring both at front and
back and agonized that this garden of mine needs work. Some of my shrubs are
stunted and not flowering very well and my trees looked very unhealthy and desperately
wanted to do something to save and protect my garden because the trees and the
flowering shrubs needed attention. I am not an expert with trees and plants, so
I found a gardener asked him to come home and give me some expert advice. He
said this garden of mine needs some good manure and also the trees need some
pruning and the dead limbs from my trees need to be removed. Though sounds
wonderful this needs meticulous hard work.
I do relate a lot of this garden and pruning to God’s Word and before
digging deeper in God’s Word let us look at some meanings of the word ‘prune’.
Meaning of ‘prune’
verb
gerund or present participle: pruning
1. trim (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away
dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and
growth.
synonyms:
|
"I pruned the roses"
|
cut away (a branch or stem).
"prune back the
branches"
synonyms:
|
"prune lateral shoots of
wisteria"
|
reduce
the extent of (something) by removing superfluous or unwanted parts.
"reduction
achieved by working harder or pruning costs"
synonyms:
|
reduce, cut (back/down), pare (down), slim
down, make reductions in,make cutbacks in, trim, decrease, diminish, downsize, ax, shrink;
"staff numbers have been
pruned"
|
Pruning a tree in general is removing the dead stems and certain stems and
branches in a special way so that this will benefit the tree and the plant as a
whole. This is for the overall health of the tree because when we remove the
dead and the diseased stems and branches that will prevent the insect and the
decay organism from entering the tree. If the tree is very dense in pruning one
had to thin it in order to increase sunlight and air which will help to reduce
any diseases on the tree. A good gardener will be able to spot any suckers and
water sprouts and remove them to provide more food and water for the tree because
if they are present that may weaken the wood. If there are any cross branches
that should be eliminated because they may rub against each other and cause
further damage to the trees.
Please
follow the above link for more understanding about pruning of trees and looking
after a garden. I have given couple of pictures and their websites below so we
gain understanding.
www.woodmagazine.com › Wood and Supplies
› Wood Figure
The figure is also referred to as
plume or a feather. Crotch is a figure that develops when
a tree knits a trunk to a branch or two branches together
(image 1). It is often referred to as a plume or a feather (image 2). Almost
all hardwood trees have crotchesalthough not
all crotches are created equal in splendor.
When the trees get older and when there are narrow crotches that has to be removed to eliminate
further bearing and tearing of the wood. Another important thing to remember
and do is something very interesting if we want the tree to grow tall.
Especially if there are 2 branches growing taller together they are called as
‘co-dominant leaders’ and a good gardener will meticulously do something about
the branches. It is important to remove one of the equally dominant branch to
allow the other branch to grow and become the dominant branch. This helps the
tree as a whole because splitting and tearing of the wood in heavy winds is
prevented and the tree is healthier. By pruning the trees the safety especially
near the drive way and the sidewalks are guarded. This will help to maintain
the natural tree form and in a way pruning stimulate the growth of the tree in
the right desired form and also restrict the growth that is undesirable.
When to prune our trees can be a good and serious
question. We can prune our trees any time but researchers say that we should
prune them between late winter and early spring before the bud and leaves and
new life springs up. There should be a good plan about which branch to remove
and get started with hand pruners, loppers and with a pruning saw.
We all think we can prune our own trees in our garden
and this is very easy and fun! But most of us do not know, that the very act of pruning the trees wound the trees. Pruning the
trees right needs a bit of learning just like any other art since pruning the
tree is an art. When pruned right that helps and enable the tree to thrive well
and when done wrong this will harm the trees. Tree experts say that trees do
not ‘heal’ the wounds and it does ‘seal’ the wounds. When the tree is pruned
right a callus grows almost like a donut and this grows until the cut is
covered and this is called ‘sealing’. God is a great God, and that amazes me
when I am writing to realize that He even cares for the trees in our garden.
Inside that particular pruned tree a ‘chemical boundary’ is formed around the
wounded area that compartmentalizes the wound and this limits further decay
which may result from that wounding. When pruned wrongly like flush cuts or
leaving on stubs will cause wounds that will not callus over or
compartmentalize.
When we look at the picture below we find some dark
shaded areas and these are the areas on the tree that contain the chemicals that
initiate the callus growth. So when pruning the trees one had to be very
careful to protect the compartmentalization that protect the wound created by
the cut. This natural process of chemical protection from the tree is very
effective and it is not necessary to apply paint or something else which may
rot the tree.
www.wcfb.sailorsite.net/WCFB/Pruning.html
Why, When, & How to Prune Your
Trees. Pruning a tree is removing specific branches or stems
to benefit the whole tree. Why prune a tree? Health. Remove
dead, damaged and diseased branches to help prevent insect & decay
organisms from entering the tree.
I have spent much time explaining about pruning of
trees so that we can understand what Jesus was teaching to His disciples in
John15. Jesus spoke in metaphors, so that even a child can understand. If I
would explain this pruning with pictures of trees to an 8 year old child he/she
will be able to understand better John 15. Jesus was a great teacher and He
wants us to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, and He made it
easier with metaphors. Now let us begin to understand what are the true and
spiritual meanings of ‘vine’ and the ‘vine dresser’.
Spiritual
pruning: What is spiritual pruning?
Like the trees and the shrubs in our garden we need
pruning, I meant ‘spiritual pruning’ in order for our steps to be ordained by
the Lord. This pruning though it is harder for us as fallen men, this is very
necessary because in our fallennes we all want to walk the way we wanted! Just
like the very act of pruning the trees wound the trees spiritual pruning wounds
us, hurts us but eventually begins to yield fruit bountifully. We all wanted to
do well in all that we do, but in order to flourish and be fruitful we need the
right gardener in our life to prune and tend us. No one can be the greater
gardener than our Creator Who is our maker of our souls. There is not even one husbandman or the vine
dresser in this earth who is so wise, so watchful about His own vineyard as God
is about His Church.
1That Jesus Christ is the
vine, the true vine. It is an instance of the humility of Christ that
he is pleased to speak of himself under low and humble comparisons. He that is the Sun of righteousness, and the bright and morning Star,compares himself to a vine. –
Mathew Henry
www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry.../john/15.html
Read John 15 commentary using Matthew
Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). Study the bible online
using commentary on John 15 and more!
Let us read Gospel of John 15 verses 1-16 and we can do our own Word
study on the words underlined and in blue to gain more insight.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I
am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man
abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the
fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath
loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my
Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have
I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be
full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another,
as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my
friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I
call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I
have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
name, he may give it you.
God is that wise vine dresser, and He wants to take away any
branch in Him that does not bear fruit, and He does pruning in a very wonderful
but painful way so that we bear fruit. He wanted us to know that unless we
continue to abide in Him, we cannot bear fruit. The metaphor the vine and its
branches are much bigger than our thought: the vine is the source and
sustenance of life for its branches. When we look around we can reasonably come
to the conclusion that fruit-bearing branches are genuine Christians who
continue to abide in Christ, and when we identify the ‘fruitless Christians’
this could raise a huge question in our hearts and mind. The immediate answer
which comes to my mind is Jesus and His 11 Disciples who are fruit bearers, and
the fruitless branch the betrayer, Judas.
When we read God's Word and learn to abide in Christ we begin to understand the love God has for us, and the beauty and the intensity of His plan for us, and His tender loving care for us, and His unconditional love for us, and His vision and His thought toward us, and then we begin to understand why He would prune us? "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end:"Jer: 29:11.
When we read God's Word and learn to abide in Christ we begin to understand the love God has for us, and the beauty and the intensity of His plan for us, and His tender loving care for us, and His unconditional love for us, and His vision and His thought toward us, and then we begin to understand why He would prune us? "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end:"Jer: 29:11.
What
shall we learn from the above metaphor and illustration?
·
As
teachers of the law we had to be careful when we lead others. When we prune
wrongly we wound the tree/person and damage the person. We have to learn from
God, the Vine dresser who does pruning in a very meticulous, wise and watchful
way caring for the souls. We have to understand the genuine love of God for His
people, and if we do not have genuine love for people we have to question our
calling.
·
We
have to understand if we are genuinely rooted in Christ; because Jesus said if
we do not abide in Him we cannot bear fruit. So the fruit giving is directly
proportional to abiding in Christ. If there is no yielding of fruit, we have to
take an inventory of our walk and abiding in Christ to make sure that the light
we think we are in is not darkness!
·
Pruning
indeed is a painful process but we begin to understand the depth and height and
intensity of God’s love through Him pruning us though it was unpleasant. God is
more concerned about bringing our fallen mind and heart more close to Him
rather than being cut off!
·
We are continuously
being transformed into the image of Christ, and that means we should continue
to abide in Christ the Vine.
·
A branch that is truly
connected with the Vine that is Christ is safe and secure even if we are in a
storm. If we have a superficial connection that means that we are not abiding
in Christ, because the life of the Vine that is Jesus is not flowing through us
with superficial connection.
·
Unless we remove the
spindly vines and the dead leaves and prune them seasonally the vine will not
be fruitful. The richest, the most fruitful lives are those who have been
strengthened through very painful process.
God our husbandman cuts away
the dead wood which could damage our lives in order for us to be fruitful. God
Who knows our inmost thoughts and heart, and who wired us individually is the
only One who knows whatever can hinder our growth. God our vine dresser prunes
us off certain bad habits, wrong thought pattern and also certain dependencies
so that we become fruitful. We shall continue to ask the Lord for greater
endurance to withstand the tests, trials and hard ships which are part of His
pruning us, so that we will bear much fruit and fruit so abundantly.
That the
Father is the husbandman, georgos —the land-worker. Though the
earth is the Lord’s, it yields him no fruit unless he work it. God
has not only a propriety in, but a care of, the vine and all the branches. He hath
planted, and watered, and gives the increase; for we are God’s
husbandry, 1 Cori: 3:92- Mathew Henry
www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry.../john/15.html
Read John
15 commentary using Matthew Henry Commentary on the
Whole Bible (Complete). Study the bible online using commentary on John
15 and more!
For further reading:
biblehub.com/john/15-1.htm
Never was any husbandman so wise, so
watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must
prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine ...
www.gtycanada.org/resources/positions/P25/the-vine-and-the-branches
The metaphor in John 15 is of a vine and
its branches. ... The true meaning of the metaphor is made
clear when we consider the characters in that night's drama.
www.godvine.com › Online Bible ›
John › John 15
John 15:1 - I am
the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. ... The point of the
comparison or the meaning of the figure is this: A vine yields
proper juice and ...
www.gty.org/resources/study-guides/40.../the-vine-and-the-branches
Does that mean Christians can lose their
salvation and perish, or that they are ... God was "the husbandman"
(John 15:1; KJV) who operated through His people.
https://www.christiancourier.com/.../1074-allegory-of-the-vine-and-the-b...
There is a brief context in John's Gospel
record that we would like to explore briefly, not ... though we do not mean to
suggest that this study exhausts all possibilities. ... it shall be done unto
you” (John 15:1-7; with supplementary instruction following). ... Jesus
identifies the “husbandman” as “my Father,” i.e., God, the Father.
helpmewithbiblestudy.org/1God/NamesVinedresser_Radmacher.aspx
A vinedresser, or husbandman, is
more than a mere farmer. ... And, what does Hemean by this? ... is
examined, the focus is not on the nation of Israel and what it should have been;
compared to the analogy in Isaiah, John 15 is a contrast.
www.truthunity.net/mbi/john-15
Nov 29, 2013 - 15:1I am
the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 15:2Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch
that ...
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