Key Scripture:
John 15:1b. …and My Father is the vinedresser.
Key Idea:
A vine must have a husbandman to plant and watch over it, to receive and rejoice in its fruit.
–Murray
Pray for revelation:
Blessed Father, we are Thy husbandry. Oh, that Thou mayest have honor of the work of Thy hands! O my Father, I desire to open my heart to the joy of this wondrous truth: My Father is the Husbandman. Teach me to know and trust Thee, and to see that the same deep interest with which Thou caredst for and delightedst in the Vine, extends to every branch, to me too.
–Murray
Key words:
husbandman, farmer, or vinedresser. Literally a word that means “land worker”. Take your pick on which aggricultural job description to use.
Jesus has declared that he is the vine. A living, growing, living plant. He now declares that his father, God, is the farmer.
A plant grows and can produce fruit, but how did it get there? Somebody had to plant it. The soil the plant is growing in is kept cultivated, and nurtured. It needs a farmer. God’s roll in the universal scheme of things is as high above that of Jesus, as a farmer is above the vine. He keeps the weeds out, he fertilizes the soil, but the farmers main job is to tend to the vine. Cutting away dead wood, pruning productive branches, all to enhance the productivity of the overall plant. More on pruning in a later lesson.
God, the farmer, sees and knows.
He busily controls all that he owns. There is order to the universe. A plan. A hierarchy. we, mere humans, haven’t even been mentioned yet, but we are not in control, God the farmer is. Just as a farmer’s work is never done, so it is with him.
He may not be hovering over us right now, watching and physically controlling our everyday lives. But he still knows what is going on, he has the ball set in motion, and he’s giving us the chance to do our own thing. Preferably the same thing that he intended for us. The same thing that is in his will. To grow into healthy, productive vines.
His creation is his best interest. No matter how bad it gets, he’s never far away.