ARE YOU WOOD OF THE VINE?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 15

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about all the uses of wood harvested from trees.

In all probability, the home you live in was largely constructed with it. Ditto for a lot of the furniture within your home.

Trees also produce the paper we use so often to print things from our computer, send cards and letters to loved ones or friends, or write notes for future reference during classes in school or meetings at work. Go to a library and look at the volumes of books, then marvel about how many trees it took to compose such a collection of literature.

I’m a big sports fan and when I watch baseball, I see major league players swinging bats made out of – you got it – wood. You definitely know it too when one of them splinters after breaking from the force of a pitch.

Finally, think about how many places use wood for heating and cooking purposes. In many homes, wood is the primary fuel.

I could go on and on but you get the point. The wood of trees has many uses, making the tree a plant of great utility.

Now, compare this to the wood we might find on a vine.

Have you ever heard anyone say that they made anything from the wood of a vine or purchased anything that was constructed by the wood of a vine?

I know I haven’t.

The point is that the wood of a vine just isn’t good for much of anything. For the most part it is useless and it’s this point that resonates in our scripture passage for today from the 15th chapter of Ezekiel.  Look again at these words here:

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything? If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”  Ezekiel 15

Note here that the Lord is speaking to Ezekiel with a very specific message about the Israelites. For God’s people had essentially become useless to Him, as useless as the wood on a vine.

They had chosen to unfaithfully bow down and worship other gods and idols so they definitely were not interested in God and His will for them. They were too busy doing what they wanted to do which amounted to sinful disobedience against the Lord, behaving in ways that did nothing short of dishonor and disrespect Him.

Obviously, this was not going to work with God and so He decided to do something about it. He set His face against His people and put them in a place where they would face the same fate as the wood of the vine when it is thrown into the fire. The wood wasn’t useful before it went into the flames but once burned it would become worthless as it burned into ash. There’s not a great deal you can do with burnt vine residue. God’s people would find the fire of God’s wrath come in the form of the Babylonians who would invade Judah and Jerusalem, leaving both in smoldering ruin once they were done. The Israelites would be hauled off into exile for seven decades, their usefulness for God like the vine’s wood.

This brings me to the title of today’s devotion:

ARE YOU WOOD OF THE VINE?

In other words, how does God view you when it comes to your value and worth, your utility when it comes to receiving His direction and then putting that direction into action to achieve His purposes?

If you are choosing sin over His righteousness, then get ready because the fate awaiting you will be similar to the one experienced by the Old Testament Israelites who were compared to the wood of the vine. You may not suffer the exact same consequences as them but know that God’s punishment and correction will come until you realize that opposing Him is a bad idea and choose to be compared more to the trees in the forest, trees that are seen as productive and useful.

Even better yet is to consider that being branches of a vine does not have to be bad. We know that because Jesus told us so. Look at these words from the Gospel of John in the New Testament:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.”

“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. If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:1-6

When we choose to turn from sin toward righteousness then we are choosing to allow the Lord to lead and guide us in life. Jesus, God’s only Son who lived the only perfect life ever, tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches. As long as we remain connected to Him (the vine), then we will bear much fruit. In other words, we will have great merit because Christ will make us that way.

Conversely, if one of the branches (any one of us) decides to not stay connected with the vine (Jesus) then they will find themselves first withering and then dying spiritually, their faith life as worthless as a vine branch that is collected and tossed into the fire. The only difference is that we can be cast into the fire of God’s judgment and that’s not a place anyone should ever want to be.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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