Closer Today Than Yesterday: I Want To Be A Grape

Thursday, January 22, 2009

I Want To Be A Grape

I want to be a grape. I don't mean that I want to hang out on the vine and sit in the sun all day. Nor do I mean that I want to get squished and turned into a bottle of wine. What I mean is that I want my life to be all that it can be. Knowing that I'm hanging off a branch attached to the vine, a grape seems to be the best representative of that concept.

But wanting to be something or even trying with all my might does not mean that I will be successful. The truth is that for the greater part, I am incapable of accomplishing my goal. That's because the health of the grape, the production of the branch is completely dependent upon the vine.

It is the vine that takes up the nourishment from the soil. It is the vine that lifts up the branches from the dirt and mud. It is only by the vine that the plant may live and be fruitful. Fortunately for me, the vine to which I am attached is Jesus. Not only that but this vineyard, the one I'm in is tended to by God.

Check out this verse...

Isaiah 27:3 (NIV)
³I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

My ability to be a grape; to love others, to forgive, to forbear, to give, to grow, to live, to pray, to read, to study, to hear the Word of Truth, to meditate, to contemplate, to teach, to reach, to serve, to blog, my very redemption... all these things are completely dependent upon the health of the vine. God has to continually send down fresh supplies of mercy and grace, every day, to maintain the health of the vineyard. Without this continual nourishment and attention, I would wither and become a raisin.

But God watches over his vineyard, he waters and nourishes it. He guards it against intruders. He cuts back the branches that would compromise the vine. He lifts and washes the branches that have fallen. He judges the condition of the entire plant by the fruit that it bears and always provides what is necessary for growth, health and fruitfulness.

The fruit from God's vineyard yields a wine that is delicious and it is this 'fruit of the vine' that Christ Jesus will drink anew in the kingdom of God.

So I want to be a grape.

Carl

1 comment:

Bill said...: From one fellow grapeaholic to another, I'm consumed by this desire; and our Lord gives our pursuits credibility, for sure, in John 15.

My we be fruity and sweet for Jesus! ;>) ... <'BB><; January 23, 2009 at 10:08 AM

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So I Stand Near The Gate

I read the below poem at a critical point in my life and it's message resonated with me. My ministry, "Near The Gate" was named in homage to this poem. When reading this poem, feel free to substitute the word 'gate' for the word 'door' and you'll have a little glimpse inside my head.

SO I STAY NEAR THE DOOR

By the Reverend Canon Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., D.D., S.T.D.

I stay near the door.
I neither go too far in, nor stay too far out,
The door is the most important door in the world–
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There’s no use my going way inside, and staying there,
When so many are still outside, and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it - - -
So I stay near the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door–the door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands,
And put it on the latch–the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside that door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter–
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live, on the other side of it–because they have found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him - - -
So I stay near the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in–
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics–
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, or sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in,
Sometimes venture a little farther;
But my place seems closer to the opening - - -
So I stay near the door.
There is another reason why I stay there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great, and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia.
And want to get out. "Let me out!" they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled
For the old life, they have seen too much;
Once taste God, and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving–preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door,
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stay near the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door,
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply, and stay too long,
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him, and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there, too.
Where? Outside the door–
Thousands of them, millions of them.
But–more important for me–
One of them, two of them, ten of them,
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
For those I shall stay by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
"I had rather be a door-keeper . . . "
So I stay near the door

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Thursday, January 22, 2009

I Want To Be A Grape

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I Want To Be A Grape

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