My former next-door neighbor was a meticulous gardener. He pampered his rose bushes, grew big veggies, and built a pergola for green grapes. During peak season, he would visit with piles of produce. Since he’s moved, the new tenants haven’t taken care of his garden, but the grape vines somehow still thrive.
In Isaiah 4 and 5, the prophet likens God to a gardener who works diligently to clear stones and plant vines. The image is a metaphor of Jesse’s family tree — the line from which King David would come, and Jesus too. God’s vine-people were beautiful and glorious.
However, Isaiah 5:1-7 tells us that after tilling and watering, God looked for good fruit but found only bad. He hoped for justice but found bloodshed, sought righteousness but heard only crying. Isaiah uses the image to warn the people who had become spoiled fruit to return to God.
Perhaps it is not coincidence therefore that Jesus called Himself the true vine and us, the branches (John 15:1-5, and that Paul says a Spirit-led life yields scrumptious fruit such as love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness (Galatians 5: 22-23).
What kind of fruit does God find in your vineyard? Are you open to His pruning and shaping? Do you continue to show fruit even amidst hard times?
Dear God, may I be a branch on the vine of Jesus, and may I bear fruit that will last. Thank you for working my land, plowing my life, and watering my soil, so that I may yield thoughts and deeds that are beautifully glorious. This is a mystery to me, but you are the Gardener, and I your creation. Amen.
Go Deeper — Read John 15:1-5, referenced above. In what areas of your life are you trying to produce fruit apart from the Vine?
Photo Credit: Dan Grinwis