Deadwood

When life gives you a predicament,

a real one,

not what to cook for dinner

or what to wear.

It is sooo easy to listen to what the world would have us to do

rather than God.

It’s easy to run to a person,

especially the one who will tell us we are always right, 

always justified,

and give us the absolute easiest solution possible

with little to no growth 

or change

or skin off our own nose.

The world is such a liar.

And it is filled with liars.

Liars that we go to for counsel.

We hear from them that it’s okay to pursue happiness over character.

Selfishness over community.

Obsession over moderation.

Personal rights over sanctity of life.

It’s how “unschooling” was born.

And a ridiculous term called “affluenza”.

And a disturbing show called “My Strange Addiction”.

When did the world decide that telling a kid to sit down and do their homework was destructive?

Or employing accountability?

Or telling an adult that NO they cannot pretend 

to be a lamp 

or eat Draino?

Once we accept Christ and actually read the bible, 

we come to know the truth.

Not “your truth” or “my truth”

which brings about spoiled brats 

and adults who treat their 182 Cabbage Patch dolls 

like real people,

or sadly,

explosive vests as a fulfillment to

“their truth."

Truth isn’t plural.

It is singular in every sense of the word.

And that word begins and ends as God.

So why do we not seek out the truth when we are in a tight spot?

We must get some sort of satisfaction out of staying up all night, 

wrung out with worry,

trying to figure it all out on our own.

God knew this would be our nature,

our sin nature.

So he gave us great verses like this:

“I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is--when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.”

John 15:5-8

The Message

God shows us who He is through our fruit 

(what we produce, alive and active in the truth)

and maturing in Him.

Meaning:  the predicaments in our lives are meant to grow us when we remain in Him.

Dependent on God.

The vine that keeps us alive.

Not the world.

In the end, “the harvest is sure to be abundant."

My study notes in the NIV version of this verse says that "God is glorified in the fruit-bearing of disciples.”

God is like an awesome orchard of vines so proud of all His grapes.

The vines that have broken away are nothing but deadwood worth nothing more than firewood.

I don’t know about you,

but I don’t want to be deadwood.

And I’ve been known to pick up driftwood at the beach 

and display it in my home.

Driftwood is deadwood.

It’s beautiful, though, isn’t it?

No fruit here.

What do we teach our children if we choose to be deadwood?

That when the going gets tough, 

pull away.

When life gets difficult,

try to fix it all by yourself.

In the end,

you are just an immature piece of deadwood 

waiting to be turned into a pile of ash.

Or a decorative knickknack.

That’s a grim future to choose compared to this promise:

“For I know the plans I have for you, “declares the Lord, “plans to proper you 

and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11