Last year, we didn’t harvest our merlot grapes because the degrees BRIX (sugar content) never reached the number we needed. We left the fruit on the vine, much to the delight of our growing rafter of turkeys. I counted twenty-six at one point.
This year, we are hoping our “dry grow” grapes will be succulent and reach the right degrees BRIX to have that intense flavor. Right now, they are looking good! The problem we face is those greedy entitled turkeys who are now in the habit of dining without consequences on the fruit of unguarded vines. What do we do?
We can turn guard duties over to our faithful, frightful sounding German Shepherd, Ranger, who can cross the yard in less than three seconds. The problem is Ranger has become so used to seeing turkeys in our yard that he yawns and snoozes rather than give chase. Only when I start squawking, flapping my arms and giving chase does he join in. My running days are over. I gallop – slowly.
A vineyard is a reminder of our spiritual life in Christ. Jesus is the Vine Master, but we have our responsibilities, too. We are called to tend the soil, prune the vines, keep them rained to the frame and wires, watch for “bud break”, introduce lady bugs to protect the vineyard from harmful bugs. We keep careful watch over the crop as it grows, harvest at the proper time and then celebrate. Then a year comes along when we just let it all go. It hasn’t enough “sugar”. We relax our guard and let the turkeys in. And they do what turkeys do. Then, the next year begins, and we realize we have more work ahead of us because now the rafter of turkeys is larger, thriving, and watching for any opportunity to sneak into the vineyard and strip away the good fruit we work so hard to produce.
The same thing can happen to us. We don’t feel like reading our Bible for a day or two, and then it becomes a week, a month, a year. COVID regulations keep us away from church long enough that we become conditioned to watch “church” online in our pjs with a cup of coffee. We don’t know anyone on the internet, so we don’t give our time or money to spread the Good News. Faith becomes lazy and selfish. And we begin to wonder why our life feels barren and useless.
Faith is like a vineyard. It must be nurtured, tended, and protected. When we walk daily with Jesus, dedicate time to study His Word and be in prayer, faith produces good fruit. Like the frames and wires that hold the vines, faith needs a firm foundation, or it can become tangled and quickly overrun by “turkeys”. Christ is our foundation. We must practice our faith by abiding in the Vine Master. Then our lives will glorify our Father through the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When the lost witness those things, they thirst for the “wine”, and long to come to the table.