Produce Good Fruit

"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.  He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.  He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.  Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit." Isaiah 5:1-2

I had to read this a few times before I finally started to fully understand the meaning of this passage.  This passage is talking about God and what He has done for us.  He requires very little of us in comparison to what He does for us each and every day.  However, we have taken what we have been given and not used it to the best of our God given ability.  I have been wrestling with how to explain this and let you guys into my thought process.  The easiest way is for me to break this down phrase by phrase and let you guys in to Kelsey's thought process.  Here we go...

My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside: God wants the best possible situation for all of us.  He wants us to succeed and thrive here on earth.  That is why God has done so much for us.  He wants us to be as effective as possible to further His kingdom in heaven and be fruitful here on earth.  God has done the dirty work and all He requires is that we produce good fruit.

He dug it up and cleared it of stones: God has done all of the dirty work for us.  He made sure that we would have the most fertile ground possible clear of anything that would hinder us from producing good fruit.  He took care of the little details that we didn't want to do ourselves.  All He requires is that we produce good fruit.

Planted it with the choicest vines: God has given each and every one of us a specific skill set to be used for His glory and to further His kingdom.  All that He requires is that we use them to produce good fruit.

built a watchtower: God is continually watching over us and not just watching over us to protect us but also watching over how we are using what He has given us.  He is always with us and will never leave us.  All He requires is that we produce good fruit.

cut out a winepress as well: You would think that at some point God would have stopped doing the dirty work for us.  No, no He has not only done the things that we wish not to do but He continues to bless us beyond measure.  All He requires is that we produce good fruit.

Here's the thing, God has literally done more than we could ever think or imagine.  God created the heavens and the earth and everything that is contained in them.  God sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for the payment of our sins.  God did all of the dirty work for us.  All He requires is that we produce good fruit.  However, we tend to produce bad fruit because we take what God has given us and defile it.  We either don't do enough or we try to do too much.  We either forget about all that God has blessed us with and we let the vineyard go to waste or we forget that God has already done all of the dirty work and try to do things ourselves.  The fact of the matter is that ALL He requires of us is to use what He has given us and produce good fruit.  That's it.  Producing good fruit just means that we are using what the Lord has blessed us with and using it for God and to further the kingdom of heaven. It is nothing fancy.  God has blessed each and every one of us beyond measure.  Don't try to do things on your own.  Don't completely forget what God has blessed you with and let it go to waste.  Use what you have been given.  Produce good fruit.  Keep Moving Forward.

Kelsey J.