My grandmother use to have the most wonderful grapevines behind her house as I was growing up. We children would go out there and pick the grapes and eat them till we got sick. Grandma made the best grape jelly from those clusters of grapes. The vines didn’t just happen. Grandma planted them. And every year she tended the vine. She pruned it and watered it. She cut away and cast aside the deadened, useless portions that robbed the main branches from life-giving water and sustenance. Why? To bring forth the best fruit for the best juice. When Grandma made her jelly, she removed any green and unripened grapes from the bunch and tossed out the blighted grapes; only the choicest of the fruit was picked for processing.
“Behave yourselves wisely [living prudently and with discretion] in your world (the non-Christians), making the very most of the time and seizing (buying up) the opportunity.” Colossians 4:5 Amplified
Jesus is the Vine; we are the branches. He brings forth the fruit worthy of the Vinedresser.
As Christians, we must behave in such a way that the world of unbelievers will see the choicest part of the bunch and choose the best path for their own lives. It’s through our prudence and faithfulness that when we are squeezed by the difficulties and temptations in life, the world sees the sweetness of our faith and the best God offers through His Son. As these doors of opportunity open to us, unbelievers will see the fruit of God flowing through us. selahV
[copyrighted, 2009, SelahV Today, hariette petersen]
