Devotion 13 - The Neglected Vineyard
S.O.S 1:6 – “They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept.”
How very easy it is to serve the Lord zealously, and yet to neglect our own inner life, our personal communion with the Lord Himself, our study of His Word and our fellowship in the secret place! We can never lift others above the level of our own spiritual experience. Ministry is an outward expression of the inner soul, an outflow of our abiding life in Christ. The quality of our life and the state of our soul determine the quality of our ministry.
Beware of the Barrenness of a Busy Life!
In this modern fast-paced society, very often, people lead an unreflective and unexamined life. Chronic fatigue is accepted as a way of life, and chronic busyness is even regarded as a status symbol. Tragically, we often confuse achievements for authenticity, credentials for credibility and the applause of men for the approval of God.
The vain reasoning is that an important person is surely a busy person; therefore, if I am busy, I must be important. And the busier I am, the more important I feel. This sort of thinking has led many into restlessness, purposelessness and fatigue, with undernourished souls.
Many live over-driven lives, trapped in the momentum of pursuing success and forgetting the triumph of significance. Jeremiah described such souls as “chasing after emptiness and becoming empty” (Jeremiah 2:5). If we are not careful, the busyness of our public life will be accompanied by inward neglect of our private life with our family and inner life with God. We need to beware of the barrenness of busyness and do not be trap in running after emptiness when we are empty.
Vineyard of our Private Life
1 Tim.3:2-5 – “A church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?”
God has appointed us to take responsibility of those nearest home before we take care of His people. Our households are the vineyards which we should be most bound to cultivate. But as the saying goes “The shoemaker’s children always go barefoot.” Sadly, one often neglects those closest to oneself.
An intentional, proactive and prayerful father cannot be held accountable for having a rebellious son, if he has done his best to instruct him. A dedicated and god-fearing mother cannot be blamed if her daughter is wayward, provided she has done her best to nurture her in the right way. But if the parents neglect their parenting responsibility and their children go astray, then they are blameworthy.
How can we be a good steward in the great household of the Lord when we cannot even rule our own house? This is like a Sunday-school teacher, who teaches other people’s children, but never praying with her own. Or a teacher of youths who had never taken the time to teach his own sons and daughters!
We have been so zealous in serving the Lord in our public life, but we have allowed thorns to grow freely in our private and personal lives, and for the ground to be covered with weeds. An unkempt vineyard symbolizes neglect of an important priority in life. One reason for the neglect could be our mismanaged values and priorities. We can become so busy that we do not make time for things that should be important to us. Or it could be due to the loss of urgency over important things in life. When reading our Bible and prayer are no longer urgent to us, we are immune to the spiritual dryness in our souls.
Vineyard of Our Inner Life
1 Tim.4:16 – “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers”
One can be a teacher of the word and yet fail to implement the doctrine in his own personal and private life, neglecting the cultivation of his own inner life of communion with the Lord.
Our soul is nourished through thoughtful study, especially the thoughtful study of the scriptures. In our busy world, we ought to give deliberate time for such discipline. When the mind is renewed and enriched and the heart is enlightened and refreshed, it gives a positive; perspective to life and the ability to live it meaningfully.
Make time for deliberate solitude as it cultivates awareness and helps to recalibrate our inner compass. Make time to create space in our inner lives to touch base with God, a refreshing space of silence into where the “deep calls unto deep” (Ps.42:7).
The language of Psalm 42 is poetic and metaphorical. The Psalmist coined the phrase “deep calls unto deep” to portray his deep longing for the deep presence of God. He was expressing his desperate need of God’s all-sufficient presence. From the depth of his spirit, he called unto the Spirit of God. There is a place of deep intimacy with God Almighty where spirit calls unto spirit as intimacy with God is found only in the realm of the spirit and the process involves longing, thirsting and seeking.
Whenever the works of the ‘vineyards’ become too burdensome, we should take time to care for our own vineyards, to be refreshed and strengthened by His deep presence. To experience a deeper dimension of God’s presence, our soul must hunger and thirst for God in the same way a deer pants for the water brooks (Ps.42:1)
Learn to cultivate that deep, alone time with God. Make our relationship with God of prime importance. The quality of our aloneness with God can enhance the quality of our time in His vineyard.