Words of Wisdom #269: What Kind of Song Will Be Sung About Your Life?
I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one’s vineyard: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even hewed out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes. So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could I have done for My vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes? Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland. It will not be pruned or weeded; thorns and briers will grow up. I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, the plant He delighted in. He looked for justice but saw injustice, for righteousness, but heard cries of wretchedness. Isaiah 5:1-7 (HCSB)
This passage is referred to as the “Song of the Vineyard” which was about the rebellion of Israel, God’s chosen people. It clearly states that the Lord takes extraordinary measures to prepare our lives to be productive, fruitful people for His glory, but the choice lies within us how fruitful we turn out. However, we must realize that if we are found to be unproductive, the Lord will remove His protection and provisions from your life and allow your life to become a wasteland.
How can we be productive, pleasing to the Lord, our Caretaker? The Lord seeks justice or fairness among all His people, and the Lord desires that His people live among each other according to God’s will, God’s ways, and God’s wisdom according to God’s Word – otherwise known as living rightly before Him. To be deemed righteous is not something we can claim on our own, that is the Lord’s authority. He alone can proclaim we are righteous, and that comes when we have committed our lives to living in the ways that please Him, using Christ as our model and guide. This is not a life of works to please God to win Him over, but our outward testimony to what has taken place within us. When we have surrendered our heart, soul, mind and strength over to loving God, then our outward actions and attitudes reflect the change of ownership inside of us. And, for all who have genuinely surrendered to the care of the Lord, He will build a hedge around our lives, and He will tend to our needs so that we can be fruitful participants in His kingdom. He will keep the thorns and briers out of our life which can choke His Word from our heart. He will make sure the rain continues to come in its due time to allow our lives to bear fruit that please Him for His Kingdom purposes.
How will your song be written? What will the Lord testify about your life? Will it be a joyous song of praise or a dirge (funeral song)? Is the song still being written? God has done His part, He is waiting for you to respond to what He has already done for you. His Son has sacrificed much to make your fruitfulness possible, will you accept God’s offer?
Coach
www.coachbrown.org
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” John 15:1-8 (HCSB)