Have you ever put in a garden? Did you harvest the vegetables from your garden? Have you planted a large flower bed? Did you enjoy seeing the flowers you planted bloom? How would you feel if you had gotten no vegetables from your garden, or the flowers never bloomed?
Planting a garden is hard work. There is the preparing the ground by tilling, hoeing, and fertilizing. Once the ground is prepared, you plant the seeds, water them, and hoe out the weeds. You work for weeks or months to harvest the vegetables. Flower beds are similar.
Now apply planting a garden or flower bed as analog for God working in this world. He planted Israel to be his vineyard. Throughout the centuries they obeyed, turned away, returned to God, disobeyed again, and the cycle went on. During times of obedience, they reaped the blessings of God. During their times of disobedience, they were punished by defeat and exile.
After Jesus came, God planted his church. Much like Israel, the church has gone through cycles of obedience with reward and disobedience with punishment. If the church, the global church, desires to reap the blessings of God, it must turn back to God. This includes preaching God’s Word clear and making God’s point, rather than twisting the message to what we want to hear. It includes being willing to give up our desires, listen for God to speak, and follow his guidance.
Perhaps we should ponder whether God is happy with what he is reaping from today’s church. Maybe we should discern whether he is reaping rotten grapes or good grapes. Are we following Jesus’ example and His guidance? If we are, we should expect God’s blessings to shower down. If they don’t, we should reevaluate ourselves and how well we are following Him.
I pray we all know that God has planted good seed. I pray we seek to produce a good crop. I pray each one of us will evaluate ourselves and the church to discern how well we are fulfilling God’s expectations. God has planted good seed. God expects a good crop. Evaluate yourself. Evaluate the church.
Isaiah 5:1
I will sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
Marty Pressey 