In the Hands of the Gardener

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

 IN THE HANDS OF THE GARDENER

 

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

What we are considering here is our free will to remain grafted into the cultivated olive tree. If God had predetermined that one of us such be grafted in because of our faith in Jesus Christ, then we would have nothing to say about our salvation. It would not be our choice, and we know that God created Adam with the ability to choose right from wrong, and Adam chose wrong. Now, we have absolutely nothing to worry about as far as being cut out of the olive tree and thrown into the flames, for we will believe all the days of our life. It is sad in some respects that much of Israel has been cut off, yet they are not yet thrown away,  for God is the eternal optimist in the sense that he still holds out hope that Israel will see her poor state of continuing to try to live by the work contract version of attaining righteousness. However, should they return to a life of faith and accept Jesus as their Messiah, the Christ that came to take away the sins of the world, then God will readily regraft them back into the naturally cultivated olive tree. But there is a warning to all people in the world. By faith, being in Christ, and remaining in him, we will continue to grow as we are firmly attached to the root. The warning is that if for any reason we start to waver in our absolute faith in Jesus, and not just for our salvation, but for every aspect of our lives, we could be in danger of being cut right out of that cultivated tree. It is, in reality, our choice. Once again, we must deal with this work contract, and if we get distracted and start looking at our “Good deeds” as having any effect on our graft into the cultivated olive tree, then we should look out, for we could be getting into trouble. We cannot bear any of the fruit unless we remain grafted in. The fundamental difference between the wild and the cultivated olive tree rests on belief. If Israel would turn from their unbelief then God will graft them right back where they were in the first place, with us still there as well, so the tree just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Anyone who believes and calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, as each new person comes to believe they are grafted in. Our lives should reflect our being grafted and drawing our nourishment from the root, Jesus, the Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us. When it comes to this passage, we know that the proof is in the graft, at the hands of the gardener. Our lives are in his hands. Yet, it is our choice to be in his hands, to remain in him and he in us.