The Beloved Vineyard
Sunday’s Verse:
From Isaiah 5:1 ESV
“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.”
Isaiah paints this image for us - God planted a vineyard. He removed the rocks and tilled the ground. Planted good vines and even built a tower and wine press. All he expected was good fruit from this vineyard. But what he got was wild grapes.
We are the vineyard. Isaiah says that the Lord was looking for justice but instead found murder. He was looking for righteousness but found a cry for help. This can be applied to us today. We have been given God's word, Baptism, forgiveness, food on the table, and a church community. What do we produce? We tend to live in selfishness, laziness, and a lack of patience towards others.
However, it is not about how much fruit we produce. It's about God being faithful to us. He did not leave his vineyard alone. Through Jesus Christ, our true vine, God came to us to produce the fruit we could not. He died for our sins and gave us life again.
By faith we are able to produce fruit. Fruits such as justice, mercy, and forgiveness.
Today’s Prayers
Gracious Lord, You have cared for us with more love than we can measure. Forgive our wild fruit of sin and graft us again into Christ, the true Vine. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
The photo above is licensed through Unsplash+