Vines are a major part of the entire Word of God – appearing a total of 185 times in the King James version in both the Old (148 times) and New (37 times) Testaments. Any time something is spoken of that frequently on a Biblical level there is great importance and significance in it. That said, when I settled on the topic for this week’s lesson I initially thought it was going to be about something else entirely. As I began to do the research though, the Lord led me to change the tone and tenor of what my human understanding had planned. Along the way I gained an education about the way grapes and other vine based fruits grow and prosper. First and foremost, I learned that wild, untended vines – especially older ones – grow out of control and will choke out the life of other plants around them, which I sort of knew prior to researching. What I did not know though is that the older and larger those vines get, the less fruit they produce. Of the fruit they *DO* produce, they have a pallor to their coloring, and they lack juice and flavor. There are exceptions where an untended vine can produce fruit that is not pallor in color and abundant in production. One such exception is the pepper vine.

from Wikipedia:

“Nekemias arborea, commonly known as pepper vine, is native to the Southeastern United States, Texas, and New Mexico. It can be used as an ornamental plant in gardens, but it spreads rapidly, climbing up trees and bushes. It prefers moist soils such as stream banks, and disturbed areas. It is a deciduous to semi-evergreen vine that can be ground cover-like, but is often high-climbing and bushy.\ and can grow to 35 feet or more. Leaves are alternate, divided and up to 6 inches long and wide. There are 1-3 pairs of leaflets. Newly emerged leaves are purple-red

and change to a light green to dark green as they reach mature size and foliage turns pale yellow or red in fall. Flat-topped clusters of tiny, green flowers are followed by clusters of pea-sized, bluish-purple berries which are black and shiny when ripe. The fruit is attractive to wildlife, but might prove toxic to humans.

The thing about this type of vine is that left untended, it will grow out of control and produce something that is abundant and has an attractive appearance…but could also cause serious illness to us. When it comes to the most common type of vine that bears a fruit, the grape, the opposite is the case. I found this post by a person seeking advice on a university forum about agriculture:

“I moved into a house with large out of control grape vines. There is a trellis of sorts that is about 6 feet tall and about 30-40 feet long and 3 feet wide. There appear to be two plants that have grown (according to the neighbors) for over 25 years. I do not know what kind of grapes they are. They do not really bear fruit, but what they DO bear when they try are small green grapes that mildew and brown before ripe. The base of the two plants are easily 6 inches across and there are long and unsupported branches that have been growing for years and years. They have grown over the wire link fence and around and up and hang loose and basically are out of control. Mostly there is a huge abundance of foliage. Last year we pruned them back to what seemed to be the oldest ‘limbs’ but those are still about 1-2 inches thick and hanging kind of loose. This has ‘forced’ growth to come out of the older parts of the base plant. The foliage is basically out of control. It grows up and out and shoots skyward. I have tied/wired some of the growth along the trellis. I have no idea what I am doing and when I try to research about this, I can’t really find how to get an untended vine (20+ years untended) back in control. Any help is very appreciated.”

Unfortunately for this person, the bad news is there is no way to get that plant under control short of some serious clipping and cutting out of what has been allowed to grow wildly and out of control. This is a perfect personification of man. If we are left to grow out of control and untended in our sin and flesh, we bear no good fruit and what fruit we do bear is either small and rotting and inedible OR even though in an outwardly worldly point of view it can appear to be bountiful and attractive it is in fact deadly. 

Have you ever encountered someone unsaved whose fruit was either bitter and rotting, or beautiful and deadly, or who bore no fruit at all?

Interestingly, as noted, that person with the 25 year long out of control vines will have to do some major cutting away to get that vine back under control – we too must have our proverbial spiritual vines cut back to be brought back under control and to begin producing sweet, bountiful, nutritious fruit for the Lord. And the only way that can be done is to let The Supreme Vinedresser begin to prune us. 

John 15:1-8

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

The Bible states in both the New Testament as above, and in the Old Testament as below, that The Father is The Supreme Vinedresser. In John 15 we read that Jesus is The Vine and we are the branches. This was foretold in Isaiah 5 as well:

Isaiah 5:1-7

1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved. A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: my Well-beloved has a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

Untended vines will not only lose their flavor, color, and ability to produce abundant fruit, but they will also overtake an area and kill off things around them. In jungles they can strangle and choke off other plant life and trees. In buildings and cities they can bore through mortar, brick, and concrete. They can wrap around wood and cause moisture to rot through the wood and the weight of the entrenching vines can cause foundations to break, roofs to collapse, and buildings to become generally unstable. In short, unchecked, untended vines – like sin – can destroy everything in their path, be it the pepper vine causing potential harm to people or intrusive unchecked vines causing damage to other plants and property. 

Signs of this in nature in the jungle:

And in abandoned buildings or even entire cities:

Thinking back to a sermon during “Layminister’s Revival” in January, I spoke about worship and prayer, “If you are not singing and you are not praising, and you are not praying…why? Ask yourselves these things. Reflect on it deep in your soul. That’s what I had to do. Then guess what happened? When I was honest with myself and didn’t create excuses that I knew were nothing but lies, I saw my shortcomings I hadn’t been seeing. My eyes were washed clean to see. My ears were made to hear. I repented. I truly, deeply, ugly cry, snot bubble repented. I cried tears that were so long stored up and potent they dissolved the iron of my shackles and ate away my chains. But the thing about sin and the world is, those chains are more like wayward vines – any gardeners here this evening? You know all about those vines – they just keep trying to strangle out everything and anything they can wrap themselves up in. The more time we spend with Him, the weaker those “chainvines” become. The tears aren’t as heavy, and they aren’t as pent up. Those “chainvines” haven’t had time to take as tight of a hold, so those fresh tears burn them off easier each time. But what happens when I skip a day or a week or has happened in some cases, even a month? What happens when I lie to the Lord and make excuses instead of making time? They get stronger and they pull me down further from the light and down into the pit.”

This is an example of a way that the Lord prunes those “chainvines” in our lives, be they caused from being untended due to a lack of prayer, praise, and worship or from unrepentant sin. The outcome is still the same.

Have you ever had a time in your life when you let your personal vines get a little overgrown?

As John 15 shows us, if and when we allow the Lord to prune the branches we can begin to once again produce abundant, bountiful harvests. In addition to the pruning being done, the other very important factor in the proper growth of a healthy and fruitful vine is the soil in which the plant is grown. If we investigate the root of the issue – pun intended – the most important factor of the soil is the vigor.

This allows us to see a greater meaning and context behind The Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13. Which basically says a sower scatters seeds, some falling on a path (where birds eat them), some on rocky ground (where they sprout but wither), some among thorns (where they are choked), and some on good soil (where they grow and bear fruit). 

On average, soil on our planet breaks down to these surprising percentages:

• 25% air (pores, or gaps in the soil)

• 25% water (obviously depending on water-holding capacity and availability)

• 45% mineral particles (inorganic: Clay, silt, and sand)

• 5% organic matter of which there is:

º 80% humus (plant matter broken down by insects, bacteria, etc.)

º 10% plant roots

º 10% soil organisms (such as bacteria, insects, worms, nematodes, etc.)

From the chart above, we can measure the mineral particles by type (clay, silt, and sand) and percentage to determine what kind of soils we have. 

Clay: Smallest soil particles, phyllosilicate materials, mineral in origin, formed by chemical weathering, holds water the longest of all soil types.

Silt: Larger than clay, smaller than sand, commonly formed on the bottom of a water body, consists mainly of feldspar and quartz — rock dust.

Sand: Usually silica quartz (resists chemical weathering), largest soil particle, great drainage, poor fertility.

Loam: A combination of the three soil constituents in various degrees. Ideal for gardening and agricultural uses because it retains nutrients and retains water while still allowing water to flow freely.

What does this mean for the christian’s spiritual growth? 

Have you experienced interacting with or observing someone whose seed sprouted in rocky or thorny ground and witnessed firsthand the plant not making it?

Make it your aim to be a tended branch of the Vine. Ezekiel 17:8 It was planted in good soil by many waters, to bring forth branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic vine.

-DC