SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/13/2016 9:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Vinedresser
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 15:1b
Message of the verses: “My Father is the vinedresser.”
Some may
believe that because Jesus designates the Father as the vinedresser and He as the
vine that He is inferior to the Father. This is not the case at all, for Jesus Christ
came to earth in the incarnation to do the Father’s will. He laid aside some of His glory in order to
become a man as Paul writes about in the second chapter of Philippians, but
this did not make Him inferior to the Father, it made Him obedient to the
Father fulfilling His role that the Father had for Him. The Trinity is in perfect unity and always
will be. John MacArthur writes “During
His incarnation, without diminishing His deity one iota, Jesus willingly
assumed a subordinate role to the Father.
Moreover, the point of the analogy is not to define the relationship of
the Father to the Son, but to emphasize the Father’s care for the vine and the
branches.
“Georgos (vinedresser) refers to one who
tills the soil; hence a farmer (2 Tim. 2:6; James 5:7), or a vine-grower (Matt.
21:33, 34, 35, 38, 40, 41; Mark 12:1, 2, 7, 9).
It is in the latter sense that Jesus used it here.”
The
Vinedresser had many things to do with the vines, as He plants, fertilizes, and
also waters the plants in order for them to grow. He also had two other responsibilities with
the vines as first of all he had to remove the branches that did not bare any
fruit, and secondly, he had to prune the ones that did bear fruit in order for
them to produce more fruit. As we move
forward with this analogy we be looking at the last to jobs that the vinedresser
(The Father) does as this is the primary concern of this analogy.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have never been one who likes to have a lot
of pain in my life, and therefore as I look at the remainder of this analogy it
will probably show me that the pruning that the vinedresser does will involve
pain, pain that as a believer am to be thankful for, and I suppose that if I am
loved in the perfect sense of love by the Father that He, from time to time
needs to prune away things that cause me to not be fruitful in my life.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust that the Lord will give
us a safe and happy journey to Amish country to see a Christmas play. Things like this cause my IBS to give me
problems from time to time.
Memory verse for the week:
(Romans 6:8) “8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with Him,”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Solomon.”
Today’s Bible question:
“What was more subtle than any beast of the field?”
Answer in our next SD.
12/13/2016 9:45 AM
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