Isaiah 5:1-2
The Song of the Vineyard
I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.
He built a watchtower in it
and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit
BELIEVER GOD
Sings for God Digs up ground
Is His vineyard Clears the ground
Chose me
Is planted in fertile ground Chooses where to plant
Yields fruit Builds a watchtower
Makes a wine press for fruit
Looks for good fruit
Imagine, God as the gardener and you are His plant in His garden or vineyard. This is a place I often rest and find reassurance of His love and care for me. I belong to Him. He chose me with a vision for my life. He has determined the exact place that He deems best to plant me; for my good and to the fulfilment of His plans. In the same way, He has gone before me and prepared the way by removing rocks and tending to the ground before He placed me where He longs for me to flourish. He has built a watch tower so He can see me, and watches with a loving and protective eye. He is present. He wants what is best for me. He has prepared a wine press so that He can take the fruit produced and turn it into something that will be given to and benefit those around me, in my everyday life. He looks for good fruit to harvest and use in the lives of others for His delight. And those who partake of the fruit will be thankful to The Master Gardener, not the plant. The plant would die without the care of The Gardener.
And me, as His plant in His vineyard, I sing to The One to whom I belong. I rest in and under the care of His hand. I trust His provision and the place that He has planted me. I do my best to stay healthy in order to produce fruit for His good pleasure. And it fills me with so much joy to live for Him that I sing to and toward , my Gardener.
A true gardener’s heart is full of delight for his garden or vineyard. He spends hours in the early morning or in the hot, hot sun and it is all a labor of love. The dust, dirt, broken fingernails and thirst from toiling in the heat of the day are of no consequence of the heart. It is his delight to care for the plants: transplanting, pruning, checking for disease, choosing the right spray to deter bugs, disease and other enemies. A gardener gingerly checks, if needed the underside of every leaf for signs of disease, tenderly trains a plant that has gone astray and carefully pulls weeds that may otherwise choke the plant to death. His wisdom knows how deeply to prune, as well as the correct season. And a gardener has to be aware of enemies and often builds a fence for protection. A good gardener is motivated by love and delight for his garden. A good gardener has a trained eye and wisdom as to how to care for his plants.
What a beautiful picture of The Father’s heart toward us. He is a very involved father. Choosing and preparing the best place to plant us, so that we may flourish. He watches over us out of love and a desire for our protection. He desires and looks for good fruit, in order to share with those around us. In other words to fulfill his plans for his garden.
And He receives delight from our very existence. And as any gardener, I would imagine there is even pleasure in the anticipation of new growth, yet to come.
This type of love makes me want to sing. Sing for my Heavenly Father and to my Heavenly Father; The Master Gardener. May I trust and rest in His love, protection and care for and toward me. I long to flourish for Him where He has decisively planted me. Even in times when I do not understand my surroundings, I pray to bring Him delight. I long to produce fruit that will bring Him pleasure and honor.
Referring back to the Scripture Isaiah 5:1-2 I am encouraged at how involved God is in my life. In reading and pondering this truth it encourages me when life is not what I think it should be. When I am frantic to change my circumstances, this truth causes me to believe that His hand has decisively chose me to belong to Him, placed me where I find myself in life and He has a plan and vision to bring Him delight through my life. He has hand crafted the circumstances of my life like a winepress to prepare and serve His harvest, fruit from my life for His good pleasure.
He has prepared this place I am planted and is tending to me daily. His wisdom and loving heart is guiding His is protective hand in the circumstances of my life. And my responsibility is to be a healthy plant and to sing of His goodness. Not sing of the good or bad circumstances that I find myself but sing about the goodness of His heart toward me; the goodness of The Master Gardener; The One to whom I belong.
The Master Gardener is The One who made a way for me to be qualified to belong to Him. I was not qualified to become His daughter by what I do, say or think but by the blood of Jesus Christ. The one who shed His blood for me is The One who made a way to become a daughter of God The Father. Because of Jesus death and resurrection, I am able to be part of His vineyard in the garden of His delight. I not only belong to The Master Gardener but He tenderly cares for me daily out of a heart of love.
I will sing of The One I love….The One who delights in me.
"The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of His delight.” Isaiah 5:7