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God like the husbandman works in the vineyard. He wishes the vines to bear good fruit.

What is the work of a husbandman? A vinedresser, as he is called today, goes early to the vineyard and prunes the wild branches. If he does not do that, the grapes would yield only sour wine. If the vinedresser does not know the art of pruning, he could cut off the good as well as the wild branches, and soon the vineyard would be destroyed.

After cutting he binds the vines, he bends them down and supports them with the help of strong posts. Then he digs the ground around the vines and removes the weeds. Now the sun can reach the blossoms and they will bear fruit. Gradually the skins of the fruits become more transparent and the grapes sweeter. Finally the vinedresser breaks off the leaves, leaving the vine bare. The sun can now directly reach the fruits and ripen them.

The picture that Jesus has drawn for us and explained in detail, can also be applied to our spiritual lives. We are the branches attached to the vine and the vinedresser works on us too. Our wild impulses will be cut off. In one of our hymns we sing “0 fashion me, my Master, just as it pleaseth Thee … ”

God the vinedresser knows what is good and what is evil in us. We too, will be bent and bound, “bound to His sweet yoke.” That alone should give us firm support.
God too, loosens the soil and removes the weeds from around us, so that the spiritual rain – His words and deeds – may reach us and not be consumed by the weeds. He rids us of what we think we cannot do without. Then the light of His love and mercy reach us directly, the obstacles are removed.

We should draw our nourishment and strength from the vine which is Christ Jesus, and allow the vinedresser to do with us as He wishes, so that we may bear good fruit.