Grafted

ROMANS
GRAFTED
Rom 11:22-24
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
NIV
Was I wild by nature? I surely believe that is the truth. But praise the Lord God Almighty for He is a great tender of trees. So often in the scriptures I am referred to as a tree, such as in the 1st Psalm. But here God is the owner of a great tree, an olive tree and I was a part of some wild olive tree growing outside of His orchard and out of His great kindness took me and grafted me into His cultivated tree. Now I am a part of this great olive tree owned by God and He tends to His orchard with care. But there is also a warning here within this passage I need to pay special attention to. The people of Israel were in that tree but because of their unbelief were cut out, which of course, made room for me. This I am surely glad of and also sad because of Israel’s present condition, one chosen by them I must admit. The warning though here also speaks to my heart. If for some reason I should come to a place where I stop believing God, I am in trouble. But how would I get in a state of unbelief? This is the question. Is this unbelief a refusal to acknowledge God, and Jesus Christ as His son and my Savior? I have to explore the Greek word here for unbelief to grasp a handle on how this relates to me. Within this Greek word apaistia there is two concepts, one negative and one positive. The negative use implies faithlessness as in the lack of Christian faith. This certainly is what I believe Paul is referring to why Israel was cut out. They refused to accept Christ. The positive use implies simply unfaithfulness or disobedience. This is the one which relates to the warning which stares straight into my heart. I must be cautious against being unfaithful to my Lord in my thoughts, my behaviors and ministry. Here I must be aware of the temptations by Satan to draw me from being faithful. I also must be careful not to refrain from a full out advance on the path God has set for me, my calling, and my ministry. Yet I still know in my heart, much as with Israel, should I stumble along the way, repentance brings about God’s kindness. As well as I believe I would have to completely refuse to accept His provision and influence before I be cut out of this tree. But, nevertheless I must remain diligent.