“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” (Isaiah 5:1-7)
God uses a parable of a vineyard to describe Israel in the days of Isaiah. He says that he planted them, gave them everything they needed, preparing them for a fruitful harvest. Yet, when the time for harvest came, instead of bringing forth good grapes, they brought forth wild grapes (sour, harsh grapes that are useless). The problem was not with what God did in preparing them, it was in their response to what they had been given.
God has done the same thing for us today. He has given us everything that we need to bring forth good fruit. He has given us Jesus to purify us, and his word to feed and nurture us. He has even prepared a place to receive us in faithfulness.
Therefore, the question comes to us: what kind of grapes will we produce? Will we produce good grapes that are representative of the love, nurture, and care bestowed upon us? Or will we take all that we have been given and produce wild grapes that are useless to everyone and bring judgment from God?
Let us strive each day to bring forth good grapes.