By Jude Ayua
Lessons from the Lord’s Vineyard: 2
The principles that the planter in the song of the Lord’s Vineyard applied in Isaiah 5:1-3 are useful to your own life and purpose. You can learn to apply them in the following ways:
The Planter: You can see yourself as a planter and your life as a vineyard. Think of what you need to sow (or plant) into your life to make it grow and prosper. The plant could be knowledge, experiences, relationships, and other values or principles. Your planting should come from a standpoint of self-love and care. You must care about yourself to see yourself prosper. Be a planter who sows good seeds into every aspect of your life and nurture them to grow and yield fruitfully for you.
The Fertile Soil: Think about your life as a fertile soil on a hillside. To sow in your life what will cause you to grow and prosper, you must prepare yourself holistically for it. You must place your spirit in the right disposition and mind in the right frame; align your physical, mental, and all aspects of your life to be in a good state. In summary, your life should be disposed to receive and nurture the plant(s) you sow in it.
Security: You also need security, protection, and safety. Even as a fertile soil, if you are not positioned on a hillside, as in the song of the Lord’s Vineyard, you are prone to many dangers. Without protection, you can sow in your life, it can blossom, but may still become ruined. Therefore, you must remain in God who alone is able to keep you safe and can guarantee your security.
Digging and Clearing: To sow in your life [vineyard], grow it, and reap a bountiful harvest, you must do two important things: dig and clear. These steps would enable you to remove potential hindrances to your growth and create the favourable environment you need to grow. Do not start from the top. Do not sow among stones or on shallow ground.
The Choicest Vines: What kind of vines are you sowing in your life (vineyard)? What are you learning? What kind of relationships are you keeping? What do you feed your soul, mind, and body with? If you must eventually reap from your life, you must sow only plants you want to see grow. You must be intentional. You must plant only the best.
Watching: You cannot sow into your life and stop there. You must consistently tend what you sowed until your purpose for it manifests. You should guard your relationships, values, knowledge, investments, and other aspects of your life, jealousy.
As you apply the principles above to your life and purpose, you must also do one more thing: Also make provision and prepare for your harvest. You sowed into your life, and you have been laboring over it, and guarding it for a purpose. Your efforts should not be a waste.
In the next part, we will reflect on specific areas in life to apply the lessons from the song of the Lord’s Vineyard.
Did you miss the last part? Read here.
