- Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Ezekiel 15:6 – God has a different plan for us. Thankfully due to Jesus we have been saved from all our rebellion. We aren’t just useless vines to God but holy saints called to His mission in this world. Be useful then to God. Allow Him to have access to your life and what’s in it. To your time, your relationships, your conversations, your future. Because of Jesus we are useful to the mission. If it wasn’t for Him we’d be in the same spot as the inhabitants of Jerusalem were. That’s not our story though so let’s not live out their ending. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1079
- Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! Ezekiel 15:5 – The direction of chapter 15’s prophecy is on the city and people of Jerusalem again. While held in high esteem by the Jewish nation, and most likely even in the eyes of Ezekiel, God is revealing the holiness of this “holy” city. He relates Jerusalem to a vine. If fruitful a vine was a highly valuable resource, but if it bared no fruit, what good was the vine? Its wood can’t even make a peg out of it and it is useless after being charred in the fire. The only good it’s for then is fuel for the fire. When talking about vines alone all this seems pretty simple, yet remember God is talking about Jerusalem here. This city was fruitless and useless and their sin had caused them to be such, and the result for them was the fire of God’s wrath. See here the result of sin in our story on our fruitfulness and our usefulness. Those who are followers of Christ have the Holy Spirit within us who desires His fruit to be displayed and used within our life, but our sinfulness can keep that from taking place. We then, as a result of our choice to sin, aren’t seeing the fruit of the Spirit being produced and used in our life, making us much like this vine spoken of in our passage. Thankfully we have the blessing of Jesus taking on God’s wrath and we don’t have to fear the fires of God’s wrath in Hell as a result of our sin, but that’s not a reason to be content with a fruitless life for the Lord. Rather than fruitless and useless let’s strive for fruitful and useful as the way God sees us when He looks upon us. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2356
Daily DEVO 