At the start of the very wet and windy half-term, Unlock the Bible took a trip to Brogdale farm to see in nature some of the principles and imagery God shows us in His Word about grafting and pruning. Here is what Esther Simmons had to say about the experience:
“Trees and fruit are used all through the Bible as an illustration of life. I had been thinking lots about what Jesus says about fruit, how He has created us to produce fruit, so I was interested to get some more insight into this picture. Tim Biddlecombe taught us about the botany principles of grafting and pruning. Being given some understanding of the natural world and the practices of farmers to aid fruit production, shone a light on the picture Jesus uses to describe our relationship with Him in John 15.
One phrase that has stayed with me, is something Tim said that he’d tell fruit farmers in reference to pruning fruit trees so that all the branches receive enough light.
‘You’re not farming fruit, you’re farming light.’
Although it was a windy and rainy day we did manage to get outside to have a go at pruning a vine without getting too wet. It was a powerful picture to see a vine before and after being pruned and to understand the reasoning behind deciding what to cut off and what to leave. The person pruning needed to get rid of old branches that would hinder the growth of the vine and identify which branches would produce fruit for the next couple of years.
Learning about wood stock for grafting was particularly interesting and gave me another framework in which to understand the larger narrative of the Bible. It was a very insightful trip! Thank you Tim, for sharing your knowledge, and to the Unlock the Bible team, for organising it for us.”
– Esther Simmons
