Tag: Christian Inspiration

God, the Gardener

~ Sowmya Gali

John 15: 1, 2

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (NIV)

A grapevine symbolizes God’s work on this earth. In this famous passage, Jesus Christ is the vine and God the Father is the gardener. We, the believers are the branches. We are fruitful branches if we are true Christians living out our faith. Through our Christian living, if we are able to accomplish God’s purposes, then we are pruned furthermore so we would bear much fruit. Fruitful living is not just restricted to adding souls to God’s Kingdom. It also means living in communion with the Lord, filled with joy of Heaven and overflowing with love for others.

On the flipside, God, the Gardener cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit. Sounds harsh, but if we have experienced God’s goodness but still choose to live in the world, we might not be fruitful. We are not burdened for God’s hurting children. We are not completely entwined with our true vine Jesus, but are seeking out other branches to latch onto. We not only are unproductive but if we are by accident producing some fruit, we might be yielding sour grapes. Therefore, God cuts off such branches so that they do not obstruct the growth of the healthy vine.

Our lives may be filled with areas that don’t bear fruit. There may be people in our lives who might have been stumbling blocks, thereby, stunting our healthy growth. God, our Gardener, trims such areas in our lives. He takes away people from our lives or we move out of the picture which we’ve felt were part of a perfect picture for a long time. God knows when, where, how and why such kind of trimming is necessary. Let us not be disheartened but trust His judgement. All it matters is if we are fruitful. Are we being nourished or our lives being choked up?  What are our priorities? Pleasing God or pleasing people? If we bear fruit, then God is glorified. Shouldn’t that be reason enough for us to be subjective to God’s pruning and trimming?

Look Up

~ Sowmya Gali

Genesis 15: 5-6

And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

When God called Abram out of the land of Chaldeans, He only promised that He will bless Abram and prosper him. The only condition was that he leave everything behind and follow God to the land the Lord God was going to show him. Abram obeyed the call, left behind everything. His father and nephew were the only ones who went along with him to the regions unknown. Soon after, Abram’s father died. But his nephew tagged along.

When strife arose between Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen, Lot and Abram decided to go separate ways. Lot chose the lush green valley of Jordan and settled near Sodom and Gomorrah, while Abram moved his tents to Hebron. It was in Hebron that God’s Word came to Abram in a vision. Abram was concerned that he still has no offspring. His nephew isn’t with him anymore. The only other male heir that Abram considered was his servant Eliezer.

That is when God took Abram outside and asked him to look up at the night sky. He asked him to count the stars if he was able to. And God promised that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. According to Lawrence O. Richards, today through the use of giant telescopes and radio telescopes that ‘see’ radio waves, we know that our Sun lies in a great cluster of stars, called a galaxy. Astronomers estimate that there are 100 billion stars in our galaxy and that there may be 100 billion galaxies in the universe (Richards, 1989). Astronomers have also suggested that our universe is expanding at a great rate.

God entered into a covenant relationship with Abram that night. Animals and birds were sacrificed. God and Abram entered into a blood covenant, first of its kind. Abram believed in the Lord. Isn’t it surprising that Abram trusted God more than anything or anyone at this point! He neither had a friend nor a relative to seek advice from, except for God Almighty. What God said, Abram had to take up at His Word. There was no turning back.

As we gaze at the night sky, we must realize that there is no East, West, North or South once we step outside of our planet. There is no up or down. The sense of direction is only relative to our planet. As numerous as the stars in the heavens, so many will Abram’s descendants be. Abram sure must’ve been overwhelmed by the prospect of having so many descendants. He just believed in the Lord and God reckoned it to him as righteousness. Abram recognized that what God was saying to him and showing him was absolute.

What are we believing today? Rather, who are we believing today? Is our worldview shaped by what we see around us? Or do we have a Biblical worldview? If we had the vision that Abram had about who God is, what His plans are for us, then we would be quick to believe in the Lord and take Him at His Word. Today God is asking us to ‘look up’ to the heavens. With God alone lies our redemption. With God alone lies our hope. With God alone lies our future.

Psalm 19: 1-2

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night the display knowledge.

Romans 1: 19-20

What may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Since there is so much of evidence all around us both visible and invisible, how can we not believe in God and in His Eternal Word. There is no other way around it. With man’s limited knowledge, there is only so little we could grasp the awesome power and divinity of God. Let us like Abram take God at His word.

Reference: Richards, O. Lawrence. “It couldn’t just happen – knowing the truth about God’s awesome creation” Harper Collins Christian Publishing, Nashville, TN 1989.