THE VINEYARD: VINE & BRANCHES

I am currently washing sheets and before placing them in the washer, I had to remove a few stains with Shout.  I thought about today's devotional reading from Our Daily Bread, the writer discussed stains that need to be removed; not just in laundry but in ourselves when we offend God, including each other.  The Scripture passage used was the book of Jeremiah chapter 2, verses 1-5 and 21-22.  At the end of the reading is a section called Insight discussing Jeremiah's words regarding the nation of Israel as the choice vine planted by God in which the people corrupted themselves turning their backs on God and going after idols.  As a result, God chastised the people but, God promised to bring them back to their land.

Jesus used the image of the vineyard.  He told a parable, a story regarding a vineyard in which the tenants killed the owner's servants and eventually killing his son (Matthew 21:33-41).  Jesus, in John chapter 15 calls himself the "True Vine" and those who follow him are the branches.  The images of the vineyard and Jesus as the Vine was to have the people of Israel recall the words of Jeremiah, encouraging them to repent and return to God.  Reading about the vineyard in the Insight section of Our Daily Bread brought to mind a paper I wrote back in 1992.  I am hoping that you will be able to read the attached images of the paper.  I did scan and save in PDF (Acrobat Reader).  Also attached is the YouTube link to the song I wrote based on John 15 that I mention in the paper.  I would love to read your thoughts and comments.  If you have trouble reading the paper, I would be more than happy to send you the PDF file if requested - RiEdro58 @ gmail.com.






https://youtu.be/Ktg0T21Po_o




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