Vineyard

 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
Isaiah 5:5 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/isa.5.5.ESV

Why would someone with a vineyard destroy it? If it only produced bitter, wild grapes. Why did God send His old covenant people into captivity? Because they didn't obey Him.

Maybe in the new covenant we think we'll get off more lightly. Even in the new testament however, we're told that trees that don't bear fruit get chopped down. We must produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

Christ is the vine, we are the branches. Any branch that doesn't bear the fruit of the Spirit gets chopped off and chucked away. Even if we bear fruit, we get pruned so that we bear more fruit.

God primarily prunes us through circumstances,  and through His convicting word. We need to listen for what He's communicating to us in each season and to take heed and obey. May we stick close to Christ and be attentive to His word!

'Heavenly Father, please help us to be grafted into Christ if we're not already, and stick close to Him if we are. In His name we pray, amen

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