Embracing the Trellis

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” John 15:1

When I was a little girl watching Daddy in his garden, I can remember him driving stakes in the ground to attach the tomato plants once they began bending downward from it's weight. Every 4-5 inches there would be a strip of white sheet tying the plant securely to the piece of wood. I can still see those big, juicy ripe tomatoes snuggled tightly to the stake, with the white strip gently waving in the breeze as if the tomatoes were wearing an ascot. This morning I was intrigued to consider the spiritual metaphor of the importance of a trellis in a vineyard. It is the same concept as stakes in the garden, in that an apparatus is required to train the vines the way they should grow and provide support from the heaviness of its existence. ‘The vinedresser establishes a training system for his vine…Stroll through the rows of any functioning vineyard, and you’ll notice that the posture of a grapevine is a direct reflection of the apparatus it’s attached to. Simply put, the way it’s trained is the way it will grow…the growing vine needs adequate support.’ Chasing Vines, Beth Moore, p. 163.

I began examining the posture in which I have walked through life. During some seasons my head hung as low as the weighty tomato plant. Other seasons when I was more attached to God, I thrived much better when the storms of life arrived. Is our posture attached to the apparatus of the cross or the world? Are we a direct reflection of Whom we are attached? The reality is we will either reflect Christ or reflect the world. If we allow the world to be our teacher we will bend towards materialism, pride and self-focus. But if we allow Christ to be the person to whom we are attached we will be tied firmly to love, peace, mercy, grace and forgiveness. ‘If the vinedresser doesn’t take over, the branches will. And if the branches take over, the vine’s productivity suffer…and the delectable taste of the fruit goes untapped.’ p. 164.  I certainly do not have any desire to allow the branches of this world to entangle my growth in Christ.  But I know how easy it is for me to bend towards the flesh so I'm grateful to have the trellis to keep me on the training path. 

It is our Father’s pleasure and desire for each of His children to bear great and lasting fruit. Christ understood that everything He was meant to be could only be accomplished if He as the ‘branch of David’ remained securely connected to the ultimate Vinedresser. We too are each being trained by the apparatus that grows us into living the most productive and fruit-bearing life. We cannot despise the trellis that God erects in challenging seasons…He alone sees our future fruit at its ripest.