May the mumbling commence!
We are branches in the vineyard. We are only useful when we remain attached to
the vine. There’s something about that
in John chapter fifteen, I think. In
fact, I have chosen to read the gospel according to John next… but I’m not at
the chapter. Keep John chapter fifteen
in mind as you read Ezekiel chapter fifteen (What a coincidence, right?!?):
Then this message came to me from the Lord:
"Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine's wood
as useful as the wood of a tree? Can its
wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? No, it
can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. Vine branches are useless both before and
after being put into the fire!
And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of
Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless,
I have set them aside to be burned! And I will see to it that if they escape from
one fire, they will fall into another. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord. And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me, says the Sovereign Lord."
Without God in our lives, we give only a flash of a
flame before we are consumed. We give
neither great light nor great heat. With
God, we are more useful than we can ever dream or imagine. And God will show us the Way as the Lord
leads us by the Spirit – just as God did for John the Baptist. Read from John chapter one:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look!
There is the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when
I said, 'Soon a man is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.' I
didn't know he was the one, but I have been baptizing with water in order to
point him out to Israel."
Then John said, "I saw the Holy
Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn't know he was the one, but when God
sent me to baptize with water, he told me, 'When you
see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone, he is the one you are
looking for. He is the one who baptizes
with the Holy Spirit.' I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify
that he is the Son of God."
(Verses 29-34)
We may think we know.
We may think we can plan wisely.
But we do not know. We do not
know well enough to plan for ourselves.
Let’s look for the movement of the Holy Spirit of the
living God so that we might see Jesus at work in our world. Let’s look and follow and testify. Let’s do these things with all our being.
Only then will we avoid being useless branches that are
severed from the vine.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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