WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Spend a few minutes quietly asking God to speak to you today through his word.

Perfect conditions
Picture the scene in this vineyard. The conditions of the hillside were good, the necessary hard graft had been done, and all that remained was to wait for a bounteous harvest. Perfect.

Farmers and gardeners, of course, know it isn’t that simple. Many things can go wrong in nature, and there isn’t always an obvious explanation. My husband was not impressed when a local gardening expert told him: ‘They do that sometimes’. It’s not what you want to hear when you have a problem with your favourite flowers. You want a solution.

Destruction will come
In this scenario there most definitely is a reason why the vineyard doesn’t grow. Isaiah lets his listeners take in the whole sorry scene before he enlightens them as to what it actually means. It’s a simple, but hard, message.

The vineyard is the house of Israel and, because its people will not listen to God, destruction will come to them. Of course God’s chosen people should be fruit-bearing. But they have turned their back on him and no good can come from that. Deep down we know that is true for us, too.

Respond: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts …’ (Psalm 95:7,8). Spend some time reflecting on what God’s will for your life might be, and ask him not only for his help and direction, but also for a deep sense of his love for you.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-12-17