The land of Israel has historically been blessed with an abundance of grapevines. As with the olive trees of that land, most people were well acquainted with the grapevine’s basic requirements of planting and tending for good fruit-bearing.
In His word, the Lord frequently refers to the people of Israel as grapevine branches connected to Himself as their true source of spiritual nourishment in life. Without such a connection to God and His Spirit, the branches will not of themselves bear fruit, meaning that individuals will not produce blessings of eternal value for God.
Jesus taught His disciples using the vine-dressing analogy, referring to Himself as the True Vine.
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:1-6 (NASB)
If we are connected to Christ, He will prune us as we go through the trials and tribulations of life to remove any dead wood. These include the selfish and self-centered character defects that can bedevil us all, the dead flies in the pure ointment of life that can spoil the aroma of God’s holy perfume. Most of us are not even aware that we have such shortcomings until the Holy Spirit points them out to us. It is then a lifelong process of transformation as we seek His help to identify, remove, or at least reduce our negative thoughts, actions, and habits that can bring pain and grief to both ourselves and others.
God has a plan for our life and can make use of us if we will humbly turn to Him for connection, cleansing, and spiritual vine-dressing. As the apostle Paul wrote:
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)
The reason God put us here on earth and has invested so much divine effort into us is 1) He loves us and wants to be with us, and 2) He has good works of eternal value for us to do, or in the context of the grapevine, eternal fruit to bear. This includes attracting and guiding others into His blessings-rich kingdom.
If we spend our entire life rejecting the outstretched hand of God, we have also rejected His life-giving Spirit, which might otherwise flow through us to produce eternal fruit for our great benefit. When we do welcome Him and seek to abide in Him, we will routinely be producing fruit for Him, often without even realizing it.
Speaking through the Old Testament prophets, the Lord referred to the people of Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day as a grapevine that was totally disconnected from God. Without being connected to this divine source of life, they were not producing any good fruit, rather, the evil kind. In fact, their vineyard no longer had any real divine value for the God who had planted them there, since they had totally rejected Him, His fellowship, and His works. Though the Lord still loved them, He would, for now, end the line of Judah’s kings and Temple worship in Jerusalem and begin again through their exile in Babylon. God would later restore the kingly line of David with a New Covenant, through the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel spoke to the people of Judah’s judgment:
1 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can even a peg be taken from it on which to hang any utensil? 4 If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then good for anything? 5 Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything! 6 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. 8 So I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 15:1-8 (NASB)
It is vitally important to seek a connection with God and to try to remain faithful to Him. But whether we are close to Him or far away, He is always seeking to draw us closer to Himself and His Messiah, Jesus Christ, who is the true source of the forgiveness of sins and our gift of eternal life. If we continually reject Him, the Lord cannot use us for His vital work. But when we are connected (or re-connected) to His “vine”, He will cleanse us and use us for His purposes. We will begin to do the works that He has prepared for us, even before we came into the world. And we will begin to experience His peace, joy, and serenity as a result, through the grapevine.
Reflection
God is always reaching out to us, wherever we may find ourselves. Won’t you plug (or re-plug) into the True Vine of His love and fellowship today?
Father, I acknowledge that many of my works have been focused on myself and not on what You are seeking for me to do. Plug me into the True Vine of Christ so that Your life-giving Spirit may flow through me to produce good fruit. Show me the areas in my life that need cleansing and please do so. Bathe me in Your forgiveness, love, and acceptance. Take away any fear, anxiety, sorrow, or loneliness so that I may experience a life of joy, serenity, and peace in Your presence. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Have a beautiful and blessed day in the Lord today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 