October 9, 2023

Today's Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7

Daily Lectionary: Nehemiah 5:1-16; 6:1-9, 15-16, 1 Timothy 4:1-16

What more was there to do for my vineyard…? (Isaiah 5:4a)

In the Name of Jesus, Amen. God is a gardener. He planted the first garden in Eden out of love. It was perfect; a garden that was destined to be forever green with blooming flowers and fruitful trees. God Himself watered the garden with a mist from the ground. This garden He made for man, for Adam and Eve and their offspring. The fruit of this garden that God desired, above all, was the love and joyful obedience of man. God had made it all for them to know His love and to love Him in return. But the garden’s fruit began to rot. 

God continued to garden. He planted a people, the house of Israel and the men of Judah, His chosen people. It was the Lord’s vineyard. Like the first garden, God desired His loving care for this vineyard to produce fruit…love and obedience to His Word. God is a faithful vinedresser. He did everything He could for this vineyard to be fruitful. But the fruit it produced was worthless, rotten from loveless and disobedient hearts. 

Out of love God destroyed this vineyard. He had its walls torn down and the vineyard trampled. By God’s doing it became a waterless wasteland full of briers and thorns. He stopped the rain. He did so, not out of despair, He wasn’t giving up. He was being the faithful vinedresser. He was gardening, caring for His pleasant planting.

In the dried-up desolate land where the vineyard was planted was a stump. It was left there by God. The stump blossomed. It was the line of David. Jesus was the fruit born of Mary. He came to His vineyard. The vineyard rejected Him like before. But this time He would bring forth fruit on its behalf. He would do so from a tree, the cross…the fruit of perfect love and obedience. What more could He do for His vineyard? He did it by dying. 

We are God’s pleasant planting, His church, His precious vineyard. This vineyard will never be destroyed but come to its fullness on the last day. He has joined us to Himself, the Tree of Life. In His church He does His gardening, pruning, planting, and watering. May we be fruitful in joyful love and obedience in and through Him. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

O God, you are my God; 

 earnestly I seek you; 

 my soul thirsts for you; 

my flesh faints for you, 

 as in a dry and weary land 

where there is no water. 

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, 

 beholding your power and glory. 

Because your steadfast love is better than life, 

 my lips will praise you. 

For you have been my help, 

and in the shadow of your 

wings I will sing for joy. 

My soul clings to you; 

your right hand upholds me. (Psalm 63:1-3,7,9)

-Pastor Preston Paul is pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church, Almena, WI.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.