"I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener...I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." ~ John 15:1,5 (NIV)
Vineyards were as much a part of biblical life as the hamburger to the American, a cup of tea to the British, or a sausage to the Pole! It is not surprising, therefore, to discover the figure of the vine scattered throughout the biblical record. Right at the beginning of the Book of Genesis, we read about Noah planting a vineyard.
Throughout Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s writings there are numerous illustrations and applications concerning the vine, and in the New Testament, our Lord makes personal use of the figure—reminding us that unproductive vines are “good for nothing” (see John 15:5). The symbol of the golden vine adorned the gate of Israel’s temple, and there is little doubt that the people associated it with the idea of fruitfulness and blessing.
In the spiritual as well as the natural sphere, the vine was associated with the potentiality essential to life. Israel knew that God intended them to be a grand demonstration of the fact that they belonged to Him, and therefore blessing was inevitable.
God made us, sailed us down the stream of life, and lost us to sin. He paid a great redemption price to buy us back—the life of His son. Therefore He rightfully owns us. He is the undisputed possessor of our lives. We are twice His! Once we fully grasp that fact, we are well on the way to realizing some of the things that will begin to make us fruitful followers.
For example, if He is the owner of the vineyard of my life, then anything He allows to happen in His vineyard is His affair—not mine. All I have to do is to learn how to mind my own business. Gladys Aylward, a British missionary living in wartime China, tells about the enemies’ advance toward the town in which she lived. She decided to try to take the children in her care over the high mountains to freedom. Requested by a desperate father to take yet one more child, she refused and complained to God that it was not fair of Him to expect her to carry such a load. “I can’t care for them all, Lord,” she cried. Graphically relating Jehovah’s reply, she told us that “God leaned out of heaven and retorted, ‘Gladys Aylward, mind your own business!’”
If God owns our vineyards, then it follows that whatever He wishes to do with them is His business, not ours. This might sound a little rough, but God is not just the owner of the vineyard, He is the lover of the vineyard, too.
Isaiah wrote, “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside” (Is. 5:1). Truly this is a love song! Isaiah loves Jehovah and Jehovah loves him, and he knows it. What is so important is that he goes on knowing it, even when some pretty rough things begin to happen.
The tough time is the very time that we need to remind ourselves that what He has allowed, He has allowed in love! Take heart, my friends!
