Isaiah 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes...5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant...
I read this chapter and had to think on it a while before I understood some of its practical meaning, and then I was able to receive a blessing from it. It sounds like a passage full of depressing judgment, but if you turn it around, it is very encouraging. First of all, if you are saved and living a new life, you are his "pleasant plant". Now, how do these verses apply to you? It means that all those hedges and walls, all that pruning and digging, and all those rainy, dreary days are good for you! They are God's blessings on your life!
May I not complain when I feel like God's walls of holy standards are too high and restricting, nor when I feel like the hedges of conviction are a nuisance. May I not grumble when the Lord digs around me and my little routine in life is upset. May I not draw back when he desires to prune away some part of me--perhaps a habit or desire--that is taking nutrients from the good fruit he desires to see in my life. Oh, and those rain clouds--those days that aren't so cheerful--may I rejoice in those as well and receive the refreshing rain God wants me to have. If I can but remember that these things are for my good, I can have joy. If I do not forget that God is only tending to his pleasant plant, then I can live with a grateful heart. Woe unto me if I turn from him and bring forth wild grapes when he looks for good.
That all sounded good when I wrote it, but a few minutes latter I realized that I needed to apply it. I began searching my life for anything I might be struggling against:
- standards
- convictions
- change of routine
- unhealthy habits or desires
- bad days
Alyssa
No comments:
Post a Comment