"I Planted You Like a Choice Vine..."

Jeremiah 2:21 is a fascinating verse: “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound & reliable stock.  How then did you turn against me into a corrupt, wild vine?”  That’s what God said to his people, through his prophet Jeremiah.  I believe it summarizes the plight of humankind. 

God had called Abraham & his descendants, who came to be called Israelites, to be his people.  God would provide for their needs & give them a land of their own.  In return, God expected his people to worship & obey Him.  Is that expecting too much from the One who gives you life?

God gave the land of Canaan to his people, including houses they did not build, fields & vineyards they did not plant.  Israel was a choice vine of sound stock.  But Israel rebelled & refused to serve God.  Israel served & bowed to other gods.  They broke God’s laws.  God sent his prophets to them, but they rejected them. 

God created each one of us & planted us on earth, in a place with many churches in which to worship Him.  Have we served & obeyed Him?  Sometimes, but more often, we’ve refused to serve Him & bowed to the gods of materialism, consumerism, pleasure, coveting & convenience.  We ignore or reject the messengers God sends to warn us.

In the end, God had no choice but to discipline & punish his people, by letting them be destroyed or overtaken by their enemies.  Will not God allow us to suffer the same punishment for our sins?

If you’re not trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, why don’t you start trusting Him today?  God has planted you as a choice vine.  Will you live as His choice vine or like a corrupt, wild vine?

Wandering in a Dry, Weary Land

In our area, there has been very little rain in recent months.  Most green plants have turned brown.  Much of the western U.S. is still suffering drought.  In other places we’ve lived through a drought, civic leaders passed restrictions against car-washes and watering a lawn; such practices were seen as a waste of a precious resource.

Have you cut back on any unnecessary use of water yet?  Last year, my brother-in-law up North installed a plastic barrel at the bottom of a gutter drain spout, to collect rain water to water the garden & flowers.  I’ve seen one house in town that uses 5-gallon buckets for the same purpose.  When water gets scarce, it’s wise to consider ways to conserve it, to make the remaining water last longer.

In the Bible, a drought was seen in a spiritual way, as a dry, thirsty period when G seems far away.  Sometimes, a drought was seen as God’s punishment or discipline on his disobedient children. 

In Psalm 63:1, David wrote, “O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  Have you been wandering in a dry, weary land? 

It would have been understandable if David had become so overwhelmed, but he had God’s promise that he would become the next King of Israel.  He knew that no matter the enemy did, the Lord was watching over him.  But when one goes through a dry, weary land for months or years, one can feel far away from God, perhaps even neglected.

Many of us, if not all, have gone through dry, weary times.  When we get discouraged by the challenges we face, it’s good for us to remember that God is stronger than the situation we face.  The Lord is our Shepherd who watches over us.  When we go through a dry, weary period, do you and I thirst for God?  Do we long for God, as David did?

In John 4, Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks this water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

If you’re going through a dry, weary time, seek the One who offers the Water of Life.  He will nourish your soul and give you strength to survive this drought.  The next time you enjoy a glass of cold, refreshing water, pause to thank the One who gives the water that wells up to eternal life.  Then seek his life.

Why Do We Suffer?

This winter has been for some, a struggle to survive.  During Lent, we Christ-followers turn toward Jerusalem & the Cross, as we remember Jesus' sacrificial suffering, for us.  Remembering the Savior's sufferings, can be a time to reflect on our own suffering.  Why do we suffer?

Billy Graham deals with why God's children suffer in his book, Hope for the Troubled Heart.  One reason we all suffer is because we sin or disobey God.  Graham writes:  "If a Christian loses his temper, tells a lie, or commits a sin of any kind, he will suffer God's judgment... just as a child needs correcting, so God's children need correcting."

Sometimes, like a loving Parent, God needs to discipline us, his children.  Graham tells about his father punishing him as a child, but he knew that his father loved him.  Jesus says, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."  (Revelation 3:19)  A wise person considers whether his problem is deserved as God's discipline. 

Graham asks: "Can we profit from pain?"
        Remember Job?  If ever a man had trials, it was this fellow.  But this is what he         
        concluded: When God has tested me, I will come forth as gold  (Job 23:10)  This is    
        reacting positively to testing, building on it, rather than criticizing it for interfering   
        with life's normal patterns.
  
       Trials often come {because God} seeks to make us into the sort of person He   
       planned  for us to be when He first thought of us.  Like a sculptor,  He begins with a   
       lump of marble.  But He has in mind a picture of what He intends to create.  He 
       breaks, cracks, chisels, and polishes until one day there emerges His vision, like   
       Michelangelo's David.  At the moment, His sculpture of us is incomplete.  God has   
       not yet finished with us.  (page 91)

Sometimes we bring a problem on ourselves.  Ever know a man who has an affair, and then his marriage fell apart?  She smoked for years, and now she has breathing problems.  A parent allowed a child to what whatever he pleased for years, and now wonders why he cannot be managed. 

Suffering deepens our relationship with God.  Graham writes, "Nothing will drive us to our knees quicker than than trouble... God hears our prayers, but our prayers must be in accordance with His will." (page 92)  Our problems can cause us to ask if we're praying for the right things.  Our struggles force us to look deeper.

Take another look at these causes of suffering, and ask yourself: Why am I suffering?  Accept responsibility for what you've said or done.  Seek to learn from your suffering.  In this season of journeying toward Jesus' sufferings and death, let us remember His prayer on the night before He was crucified, "Not my will, but your will be done."  Our problems keep us humble and cause us to pray.  Struggles can lead us to us to a deeper relationship with the Savior.  Let God's Spirit lead you.