soil

The Vine for the Wine

/ EllieJ

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

John 15:1 (NASB)

Let’s face it, in our lifetime, most of us will never grow grapes. We’ll eat them. We may drink them. But we won’t grow them. So immediately, our understanding of what Jesus is saying here is limited.

In my digging through this verse and the following scriptures, I took the time to learn a bit about vinedressing and even a bit about winemaking. When looking at what would normally be very dry, very boring information in a spiritual context, suddenly that very dry, very boring content comes to life.

Did you know that not every grape is right for every vineyard? Grape grower, Wes Hagen, said to choose the right grape to plant, not the variety you prefer. From a natural standpoint this makes sense. Just because you want to produce a certain wine, it doesn’t mean that the soil you have is right for that variety of grape. From a spiritual standpoint, Hagen’s comment is even more profound. The right vine in the right soil makes all the difference in the final product. In accordance to the gifts we’ve each been given, we are all best suited to thrive in different areas. Just because you may want to be or do something doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where you’re best suited. The best result comes when you allow the vinedresser—God—to choose where you will grow and produce the best.

Another interesting fact about vineyards is that very few are planted from seed. More often than not, the variety that’s growing on the trellises is not what’s rooted in the soil. This is because many of the best varieties of grapes for winemaking do not have the strongest root structure. So root vines are planted and the growing vines are grafted.

I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father.

John 15:1 (TPT)

As New Testament believers, we are the vines that have been grafted on to the sprouting root stock. There is no way we can grow roots strong enough to grow a worthwhile fruit on our own. And, thankfully, we don’t even have to try. Our strength, our roots, come from what or, rather, whom we’ve been grafted to. All the nourishment we’ll ever need comes through that root system that Jesus has established and all the care we need comes from the Father, the vinedresser.

Further verses will address our need to stay in the vine lest we be unproductive and cut away. For now, though, take the time to think about the implications of the root and the vine working together and all that means not just for grapes, but for us as individual believers.

If you’d like to see more on John 15:1, click here to purchase the commentary.

Weed the worry

/ EllieJ

Read: Numbers 5-6, Mark 4:1-20

Most of us have heard or read the parable of the sower more times than we can count. From Sunday school through to Sunday sermons, if you grew up in church, you’ve been aware of this story of Jesus’ for most of you life. If we had to place ourselves in a portion of the story, the majority of us would be tempted to claim the good ground. But if we’re telling the truth, we’ve probably all had more experience in the other kinds of soil than we’d like to publicly admit. Today, let’s talk about the thorns.

Mark 4-18-19.jpg

First, what is worry?

WORRY: To tease; to trouble; to harass with importunity (pressing solicitation; urgent request, application for a claim or favor, which is urged with troublesome frequency or pertinacity), or with care and anxiety.

Whom of us can claim that we have never worried and will never worry again? None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. If we’re alive, we’re bound to worry about something. Parents worry about their children. Some worry about how to pay the bills or where to find the next meal. Some worry about succeeding, others failure. Some worry about grades. Others still, worry about being alone while some worry about staying together.

We may not be able to stop the worry altogether, but we do have the ability to control it when it comes.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Luke 12:25-26 (NIV)

Jesus compared worry to thorns. Weeds. Unwanted growth.

Say you plant a garden. You pick a spot with plenty of sun. It is close to a water source, yet it drains well. You’ve added soil and done all that you can to ensure a fruitful garden. You pick your seeds and plan your plots. Once the seeds are in the ground, you are careful to water, but not too much. You shoo away birds that would snatch the seeds or cats that would disturb your neat rows. Before too long, your little seeds start to sprout. Row by row little bright green leaves peek through the dark soil. But wait! That one isn’t in line! It doesn’t look like a cucumber or carrot. It’s a weed. What are you going to do about it?

Most of us accept worry as a part of life. It just is. It can’t be helped. But if it can’t be helped, why would Jesus tell us not to do it?

Like your carefully planned garden, worry, like a weed, can be uprooted. It can be removed and tossed away to die. No one wanting the largest harvest possible will stand for weeds sucking up all the nutrients from the soil and choking out the productive plants. Those weeds need to go. So does worry.

Even the best-prepared soil can sprout weeds. But the diligent gardener will remove them before any damage is done.

Don’t entertain worry. There is no benefit in it. Worry takes our focus away from those things which have already been promised to us. And not only that, but it implies that our trust in God is not implicit.

Worry generally stems from a fear of lack, not having enough or not being enough. So when that little thorny sprout shows up, you remind it who’s the boss. Pull it up and cast it away with this promise:

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

Now is the time

/ EllieJ / Leave a comment

When someone asks me to do something I’d already planned on doing, immediately I want to say no. It has turned from being an optional thing into a thing that must be done. And, now that it must be done, I don’t want to do it anymore. It’s not the greatest attitude to have. Especially when it comes to spiritual things.

I said, “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.

Hosea 10:12 (NLT)

These statements from the Lord were not given as options. You might want to plant the good seeds of righteousness. Maybe think about plowing up the hard ground of your hearts. No, these are statements of things that must be done if we want to reap the rewards that are also described.

Chances are that you’ve planted something before. Maybe in school. Perhaps a garden in your yard. A flower pot on your patio. The soil is as important as the seed. This is why Jesus told a whole story about the soil. In the parable of the sower, Jesus took the time to describe the different types of soil in detail, but never gave any indications as to what the seed may have been or looked like.

As he scattered it across the field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them.

Matthew 13:4 (NLT)

We can assume that the footpath was hard, packed, well-trod soil—if you can even call it soil anymore. When soil is hard and packed, a seed cannot even get far enough into the ground to sprout roots. All that potential becomes nothing more than bird food. God tells us that we must plow up that hard ground. Now is the time to do it.

Unlike planting, soil preparation can happen at any time. A farmer can start preparing a field for planting a year or more in advance. If the plot of land is particularly hard and stony, it will take time to make it useful for planting. So long as the ground is accessible, it can be prepared.

Our hearts are the same as the unprepared field. We don’t need to wait for a certain season to start. We just need to prepare ourselves to receive the seed. God will take care of the rest. But if we never take the time to prepare ourselves, we can never expect to reap a harvest. Any seed that may be scattered will be snatched away.

Let’s stop waiting and procrastinating. Get the job done while it is still a choice, not a duty. Now is the time to seek the Lord.

Daily Bible reading: Hosea 9-11, Revelation 2