A fruitful harvest

In the wilds of North America there are herds of large game animals such as the mighty and noble looking Elk. One look at them and you are carried away with wild imaginations of hunting and harvesting a prize bull and then having it stuffed and mounted on your wall in the den so you can recount of all the glorious details of the hunt. It is a physical and visible trophy of how you overcome adversity to achieve the goal, sort of your fruit of your labor. Most people don't realize that it is never just about the kill, it is all about overcoming the adversity of the hunt.

It is easy for a hunter to get what is called the blood lust where they are driven by one thing and one thing only and that is the kill. There is a difference between a responsible hunter and a beginner hunter that has blood lust. The difference between them is that a responsible hunter will no longer just shoot the first thing that pops up, but they will patiently wait for the right one that they are looking for and that may not be just a trophy animal. When you hunt you take on the role of a predator over these animals and it is our responsibility to help insure the health of the herd by taking out the weakest animals, the ones who are lame, diseased, or just not up to snuff genetically that are concidered cull animals. Culls are the animals that need to be harvested from the herd so that they do not endanger the health of the other animals. You need to keep them from comsuming large portion of the available resources such as food and water supplies that might be better used to preserve the more healthy animals.

Recently we have seen the release of wolves back into state parks where they have great herds of Buffalos and Elk and have notice a dramatic improvement of the health of the herds because the predators are trimming the herd back so that the stronger animals live and pass on the strongest genes. It is important to remember that this is the way that God created the animal kingdom because there always has to be a checks and balance system in our faith as well.

John 15:1-8 NIV
The Vine and the Branches "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciple.

There has to be a pruning of the sick and non productive limbs so that the the whole tree will be able to live and not die. There is a reward for the pruning because it is for the Glory of God, so you can be stronger and it will insure that your spiritual DNA is preserved throughout the generations so that even your children's children will be blessed because of the Godly traits that will passed down through your faithfulness.