Tuesday, August
22, 2017
Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but
kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut
off. And if the people of Israel turn
from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to
graft them back into the tree. You, by
nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary
to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, he will be far more eager
to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.
Romans 11:22-24(NLT)
The
metaphor of garden goes back to the creation.
Adam and Eve were placed in Eden and instructed to be fruitful. The whole point of being part of God’s
creation is to be productive as God himself watches over everything He created:
The LORD God
placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
Genesis 2:15(NLT)
Paul called
himself the Apostle to the Gentiles. An “apostle” is literally a messenger, one who speaks for
God.
In writing to the believers at Rome he took care to explain that
they needed to keep a watch on their attitude.
The apostle pointed to God’s chosen nation, Israel, and how their
disobedience and arrogance caused them to be outside of God’s will. The Gentiles were considered a new branch grafted into the
old tree. This was a warning that just
as an old olive tree in a grove can become unproductive, and is removed by the
gardener, in the same way a disobedient and unproductive new branch of people
can be removed from God’s vineyard.
The New
Testament church is coming up on its 2,000th birthday. That is about the same age Israel boasted during
the time Paul lived and warned the Gentiles about becoming stodgy and full of
themselves with pride. That makes this warning
is as poignant today as it was then! The
whole issue is of trust. Paul’s warning
was about how God will cut off
those who stop trusting Him, but be very kind to all who trust Him fully. So, it’s never a matter of past tense (what you have
done for God); it’s a matter of present
tense – whether you are trusting Him or not.
One of my acts
of 4 year-old childish disobedience was the zipper on my jacket. I could never get that thing right. It frustrated me to no end! Mom knew it and would get the zipper
untangled and start it over again. As
soon as I saw her get it right I would reach out and grab the zipper to finish
the job. Now, a child needs to learn to
operate zippers and other everyday functions in life…but with respect due his
teacher. In the same way a Christian
must understand that whatever we
accomplish is really not because of our power; it is Christ in us. We are like gloves, totally useless unless
the hand is placed inside, moving the fingers to the will of the body. The gloved hand, having grasped, lifted, and
placed an object in the right place, that glove can no sooner take credit for
the accomplishment than a wolf baying at the moon can claim he caused the sun
to rise.
But we are
like that as soon as we begin to think we can get along without abject,
worshipful humility before God. And it
shows in places like Charlottesville when, instead of unity in the Spirit there
is hatred in the heart; that is the inevitable result when people become bored
with being servants of God and begin to imagine themselves being god.
The branch
imagines itself the Gardener.
For You Today
Let’s hear
the last word today from Paul:
Because of
the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning:
Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of
yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Romans 12:3(NLT)
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
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