Monday February 8, 2021

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

What more could I have done for My vineyard than I did? Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?

Isaiah 5:4

Reflection: We are blessed by God in order to bear fruit that God desires. The prophet Isaiah tells Israel that the Lord sings of His Beloved, who owns a vineyard on a fertile hill. The vineyard has been rid of stones and planted with the best vines. It is protected by a tower and has all that it needs to press wine. The owner of the vineyard has done everything to ensure that the vineyard will yield good produce, and therefore expects good grapes from it. But the grapes that grow in the vineyard are wild grapes, sour fruit unfit for harvesting. This is worse than unfruitfulness. The vineyard bears a bad harvest, as if nothing at all had been invested into the land.

Isaiah’s parable judges Israel’s failure to bring forth a harvest that God expects: a people exhibiting His perfect Justice and Righteousness by His Truth. Because the people resist His nourishment, pruning, and care, their lives reflect the opposite of what God desires. This parable causes us to reflect on how we use God’s blessings. What more could we ask for that God has not already provided? The abundance of His steadfast Care, Providence, Wisdom, Truth, and Patience are all what we depend on day after day. His Salvation and Grace is what allows us to know Him closely. Is all that God has invested in us reflecting in the way that we live? Are we using all of His resources to do what He expects of us as His people? His blessings are available to us not to use as we want, but as He wants. Only by responding as God desires will we yield fruit that is pleasing to Him.

Prayer: Father God, You never fail. Thank You for Your endless blessings. Thank You for Your Faithfulness. You are the God of the Heavens and the Earth, the Ancient of Days. I am humbled that You, the True and Living God, choose to bless and keep me. I deserve none of Your Grace, but You have given it freely. Grant me more faith, Lord, to do what is right by You. Keep me near to You by the Truth of Your Word, that I would be moved to use Your blessings for Your Glory. I pray all of these things in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.

Thru the Bible in a year (credit: Biblestudytools.com): Revelation 19; Isaiah 5-6; Psalm 109:20-31