Come and save us Lord,
restore us we pray
Restoration Project
•April 15, 2011 • Leave a CommentSour grapes
•April 14, 2011 • Leave a CommentA Song about a Vineyard
The LORD said:
1I will sing a songabout my friend’s vineyard
that was on the side
of a fertile hill.
2My friend dug the ground,
removed the stones,
and planted the best vines.
He built a watchtower
and dug a pit in rocky ground
for pressing the grapes.
He hoped they would be sweet,
but bitter grapes
were all it produced.
3Listen, people of Jerusalem
and of Judah!
You be the judge of me
and my vineyard.
4What more could I have done
for my vineyard?
I hoped for sweet grapes,
but bitter grapes
were all that grew.
5Now I will let you know
what I am going to do.
I will cut down the hedge
and tear down the wall.
My vineyard will be trampled
and left in ruins.
6It will turn into a desert,
neither pruned nor hoed;
it will be covered
with thorns and briars.
I will command the clouds
not to send rain.
7I am the LORD All-Powerful!
Israel is the vineyard,
and Judah is the garden
I tended with care.
I had hoped for honesty
and for justice,
but dishonesty
and cries for mercy
were all I found.
On our holidays this year, we are going to spend some of the time on a vineyard. I am looking forward to experiencing the special ambiance there, and may even get to sample some of the grapes!
Each vineyard has its own terroir. The “sense of place” that gives each vineyard its own characteristics that reflect the area and the effects of the environment.
By Deon Maritz (originally posted to Flickr as [1]) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
God has provided the finest vineyard, prepared the ground, planted only the best vines. The ground has been cared for and the vineyard watched over. What more could he do?
He has given the very best he had, done the most he could, thrown his everything at it. Is it unreasonable to expect some decent grapes, beautiful, sweet fruit of his vines?
But no, all he got for his efforts were bitter grapes.
God had tended and cared for his people. He had hoped that with his care they would produce honesty and justice. Sadly, not so.
What more can God do? He despairs of the produce of his people’s lives. God has not reaped what he has sown, what he deserved for the effort he put in, and he is disappointed.
Yet fortunately for us, this is not the end of the story – and he does come to do something about it…
Lord
so often
I am not what I should be.
You deserve more
for the work you have put in to me.
Thank you Jesus that you gave more.
Turn the sourness of my grapes to sweetness
I pray
Great minds think alike
•April 13, 2011 • Leave a Comment5and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:
6Christ was truly God.
But he did not try to remain equal with God.
7Instead he gave up everything and became a slave,
when he became
like one of us.
8Christ was humble.
He obeyed God
and even died
on a cross.
9Then God gave Christ
the highest place
and honored his name
above all others.
10So at the name of Jesus
everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth,
and under the earth.
11And to the glory
of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
“Jesus Christ is Lord!”
Paul wants to have the same mind as Christ, to think how he thinks. That is the ultimate goal for a Christian, to act in all ways as God would.
So how is that?
Jesus was equal with God, but he wasn’t precious about it, he didn’t cling on to it. Even though Jesus was truly God himself, he was willing to give all that up.
He was humble.
He obeyed God.
His life led others to see the glory of God.
Can our minds think like that, our lives be lived like that?
Lord
may my thoughts
be as your thoughts;
my actions
as your actions;
may what I do
help others to see your glory
