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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: righteousness

  • The Unproductive Vineyard

    I have spent the bulk of my life living in Alberta, but, for a few years, growing up, we lived in the Lower Mainland.  I was recently reminded of that time when reading a passage about a vineyard in Isaiah’s prophecies.

    We didn’t have vineyards, but there were wild grapes aplenty for the picking. They were typically small and bitter, but we loved to pick and eat them. The vines were wild, untended and scraggly. Unlike the beauties you would find in a well-tended vineyard.

    Now that’s clearly a prophetic passage for the nation of Israel. God had provided everything they needed to produce a crop of righteous believers, but they failed. He sent them into exile in Babylon.

    Let me sing now for my well-beloved, a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He hoped for it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. “So now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I hoped for it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones? So now let me tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall, and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up. I will also command the clouds to rain no rain on it.” For the vineyard of Yahweh of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, His delightful plant. Thus, He hoped for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress. Isaiah 5:1-7

    God brought them back, and still no harvest was produced, so in 70 AD, they were dibursed again and scattered them across the globe.

    The fact that it was a prophecy for Israel doesn’t mean we can ignore it. The same principle can be applied to the church today.

    God has given us everything we need to produce a harvest. We have been born again, carry the imputed righteousness of God and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We have the Word in more languages, formats and translations than ever before in the history of the church. Here in the West, at least (for now), we are free to worship as we choose and to proclaim the gospel.

    There is a crop to be gathered. We know that Jesus said, “

    . Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2

    We need to look at our collective hearts. Are we faithful to the Great Commission? Are we exercising our gifts and talents to grow the kingdom? Do we even care that people are perishing and going to eternal damnation?

    It’s not my desire to beat anyone up over this issue. It’s simply a reminder to keep our priorities straight. As believers, God has expectations of us, and we have been provided with everything we need to get the job done. 

    Let each of us do our part to bring in an abundant and healthy harvest.  That part might be to seed, water or reap, but whatever part we have been called to, may we be faithful.

    Hallelu Yah (Praise God) 

    Kevin 

    SUMMARY

    Drawing on Isaiah 5’s vineyard parable, this devotional traces God’s patient provision for Israel and their repeated failure to produce a righteous harvest. The application turns to the church: we have been given every resource we need, and the question is whether we are faithfully doing our part in the Great Commission.

    TAKEAWAY

     God’s expectations are inseparable from His provision. He does not demand what He has not supplied. 

    The harvest is real and waiting. The shortage is not opportunity but workers willing to enter the field. 

    Every believer has a role, whether seeding, watering, or reaping. Faithfulness in your assigned part is the standard, not someone else’s calling.

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  • For the Birds – God’s provision

    For the Birds – God’s provision

    male white-crowned sparrow

    Our yard is aflutter with birds. The rear of the property is fenced, keeping out most predators. The seed feeders and hummingbird feeders (in season) stay busy with various birds. The trees and brush provide plenty of nesting sites.

    We see chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, nuthatches, robins, Northern Flickers,  sapsuckers, doves, half a dozen species of sparrow, varied thrushes, common redpolls, and many more species regularly. There are also many LBJ’s (little brown jobs, small birds that I don’t get a close enough look at to identify). 

    We can watch bald eagles, hawks, ravens, and crows soar above us.  Geese and ducks often fly noisily overhead. The other day a flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead whooping away as they traveled. At dawn and dusk we are serenaded by a wide range of song birds.

    We often sit in the yard and watch and listen. Many birds are so accustomed to us that they will come within a couple of feet of us. We are not seen as a threat unless we suddenly move in their direction.

    A passage of Scripture often comes to mind as I watch them. 

    “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34 ESV

    Appropriate words for the times we are in. 

    Our security nets have eroded. The political world is in chaos, and our economies are in shambles. There are wars, rumors of wars, plagues, and natural disasters on what seems an unprecedented level.

    Yet the birds go about their daily lives, completely unaware of what makes us fearful. God looks after them and will watch over us as well. Things might be difficult for a season, but He has not abandoned us, nor will He.

    The LORD  is our source, our strength, our comfort, and He is our peace. We can rest in Him whether things get better or worse. No matter what the world throws at us, we can withstand it joyfully in Him.

    When it gets too much, take a minute to watch and listen to the birds and look to the Savior. If you live where birds are scarce, go online and watch some videos of them.

    Until next time, consider the birds and trust in Jesus.

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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