Isaiah 5:1-4:
Let me [as God’s representative] sing of and for my greatly Beloved [God, the Son] a tender song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard [His chosen people]. My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. 2 And He dug and trenched the ground and gathered out the stones from it and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and hewed out a winepress in it. And He looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard [My people, says the Lord]. 4 What more could have been done for My vineyard that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to bring forth grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
In the passage above, Prophet Isaiah tells the story of a man with a vineyard on a fertile hill. He removes the stones and cultivated the ground so that nothing would hinder the vines' growth. However, instead of good grapes, he gets wild grapes, or corrupted grapes.
As I read the passage, it reminded me of our relationship with God. He provides us with the necessary tools so that we can bear good fruit. We have bibles, churches, Christian books galore, sermons, etc. The verse that really caught my attention was Isaiah 5:2, it states the man looked or expected that it should bring forth grapes. This tells me that the man didn't tend to the vineyard to ensure it's proper growth. He just expected that it would bear good grapes.
When we are first saved, we have a zeal, a burning passion to share Jesus. We do all the right things, say all the right things, and we are living our great Christian life in our great Christian box. Then something happens. The fire burns out, the zeal diminishes. Our flame that once was for Jesus, becomes a cloud of black soot. Why? Because somewhere in between we stopped tending to our vineyard. We stopped watering it, we didn't care for the hedge placed around it, therefore letting outsiders destroy what we had planted.
Oftentimes we as Christians want the blessings that come with having a relationship with God, but don't want to put in the work. We won't read our Word; we won't go to church; we have direct access to God yet we don't have a consistent prayer life.
We can't expect to produce good fruit: love, joy, peace, long-
When we remain disconnected from God we produce the works of the flesh (bad grapes, wild grapes, or corrupt grapes): adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, wrath, strife, dissensions, and heresies (Gal. 6:20).
One day we will stand before God and we will be accountable for everything He has provided for us. We will be asked to show our fruit regarding all that He has provided in our lives.
What will God find in your vineyard?
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