Wednesday 5 April 2017

“Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? – Ezekiel 15:2



Today’s Scripture Reading (April 5, 2017) Ezekiel 15

A wise man once said that making a profit is very easy – simply bring in more money than you spend.  The same goes for our household accounts. Financially everything is fine as long as income is higher than expenses.  But the reality is that income is needed.  We have to have some area of our life or our business that is bearing fruit – that is being successful – whatever that means for you.
So if something is occupying your time, but it is not bearing fruit, then it is worthless.  Actually, it is worse than useless – because it is stealing attention and focus that should be given to the areas that are being productive. The best thing that you can do is cut that aspect out of your business or your life that is not producing fruit because it is not helping you. But we often have built up blind spots because these vines used to be fruitful – or we are emotionally attached to them – and we rarely notice that they have become a drain on our lives and resources. We hide ourselves away from the truth that most of those around us can see clearly. And we argue strenuously against pruning the fruitless branches of our lives.
Ezekiel says the wood of the vine is useless – you can’t make anything out of it.  The only thing that is valuable about the vine is the fruit that it bears – that is it.  And a vine needs to produce now – it is not enough that it produced fruit once.  And that is the issue that trips us up.  No matter what your organization does – or what your life looks like – I am sure that there are things that currently occupy your time that simply does not work anymore.  And those things are often hard to get rid of – precisely because once they worked.
A vine that no longer produces fruit only steals food from other vines that are still capable of producing fruit.  For the health of the vineyard, they need to be removed. So, are there any fruitless vines in your vineyard? 
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 16

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