Fruit of the Vine

 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father.
—John 15: 5,8

We are blessed with wonderful friends who always challenge us to do new things. In our latest adventure, we joined the grape harvest crew at a local winery. As our car meandered up the hill through the vineyard, I was struck by the beauty of the setting. Our destination was an old restored barn without walls resting on the top of a hill. It was surrounded by pristine rows of perfectly groomed grapevines producing fruit of many varieties especially bred for the northern climate. As we rested on Adirondack chairs overlooking the valley below, the owner gave us a brief overview along with our harvesting instructions. Then he sent us out into the vineyard, armed with special cutters and “lugs” to carry our harvest. We spread out with an arm’s length between us along the first row of vines to hand pick the ripe grape clusters, while harvesting but leaving behind the unripe and spoiled fruit. When we finished harvesting the fruit in our section, we picked up our lugs and hop-scotched to the end of the line. This pattern continued for the next two hours until our crew of thirty harvested all the rows of this particular variety.

As I worked each section, I thought about some of the many Biblical references to the fruit of the vine. For example, we know one of the first things Noah did after the flood was to plant a vineyard (Genesis 9:20), and the scouts sent out by Moses to the Promised Land returned with huge clusters of grapes (Numbers 13:33). The Bible gives instructions for growing grapes (Proverbs 24:30-31), tithing with wine (Leviticus 23:13, Deuteronomy 14:22-27) using wine in Jewish feasts (Deuteronomy 16:13-15) and as a drink offering with the daily sacrifice (Exodus 29:40-41). The Prophet Isaiah used the vineyard to symbolize Israel’s fruitfulness in doing God’s work on earth (Isaiah 5:1-7). Jesus turned water into wine as His first miracle (John 2:1-11) and He used wine at the last supper as a sign of the new covenant of His blood, shed for the forgiveness of sin.

While filling my lug, I could see that the grapevine is a prolific plant and a single vine bears many grapes.  It reminded me of John 15:1-17 where Jesus used the grapevine to teach that He is the vine, we are the branches, and His Father is the gardener who cares for us to make us fruitful.  The “gardener” or owner of our vineyard explained how he cuts off the branches that don’t bear fruit and prunes the fruit-bearing branches to make them more fruitful. Likewise, when we are unproductive and bear no fruit for God or block the efforts of others who are bearing fruit for the Kingdom, we can be cut off from our life source. Like the useless withering branches in the vineyard compost pile, we can bear no lasting fruit apart from the vine.  To stay connected to the vine and produce much fruit, we must remain faithful to Jesus, do what He says by His power, and be led by the Holy Spirit. The fruit we harvest is joy (John 15:11), love (John 15:12), answered prayer (John 15:16) in addition to peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). Even as we bear fruit, God can use the difficult times in our lives to “prune” us so our character and faith our strengthened and we can bear even more.

When finished with the harvest, we enjoyed a meal together, sampled some wines, and then followed our grapes back to the winery where the winemaker showed us how the grapes would be de-stemmed and crushed and the juice would be fermented, aged, and blended.  And no, although it would have been fun, we didn’t stomp them with our feet!

We’ll go back next year to be a part of this ancient practice that dates back to Bible times. The next time you pass a vineyard or sample its fruit, I encourage you to remember that He is the vine, and you are the branches. Bring Him glory and do whatever it takes to stay vital, healthy, and fruitful. May your harvest be great and may your lug overflow!