A lost sheep found ∙

A lost sheep found ∙

If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? – Luke 15:4

John 15:1-5

 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.

 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

In February 2021, a lost, runaway sheep was found after some 5 years in the Australian brush. Amazingly, it had 77 pounds of fleece growing on it. Its rescuers gave it the name Baarack. It struggled to stand up and walk under the filthy fleece caked with years of mud and tangled debris.

The rogue sheep had belonged to someone because it had a tear in its ear where an ear tag would have been. Although it had been running wild, it was a domesticated sheep. The wild mouflon of Europe and Asia, the ancestor of modern sheep, was a coarse-haired animal with a downy undercoat. This covering responded to the seasons, growing thick to provide warmth during colder months and shedding independently when warmer weather arrived.

Sheep as we know them today are the result of selective breeding. The goal was to produce wool that could be harvested. As a result, the lives of their modern descendants were significantly altered. Modern sheep have become reliant on human care and necessitate annual shearing to maintain their well-being and keep their coats in check.

The Scriptures present many analogies to represent the relationship between the Father and children of the King: Father/child, husband/wife, groom/wife-to-be, vine/branches, vinedresser/branches, shepherd/sheep, etc.

Children of the King are the sheep of the Father’s pasture, and He cares for us. We desperately need His care and concern. We are the branches; He is the vinedresser, the gardener. We require regular pruning and management.

Similarly, we are likened to branches of a grapevine. He assumes the role of the vinedresser or gardener. Regular pruning and management are essential to our growth and well-being, mirroring the care and attention required by the branches of grape vines.

REFLECT & PRAY

There are only two things on planet Earth that are eternal: human souls and the Word of God. Nothing else on planet Earth is eternal.

Father, I want to be shorn and pruned, I wish to remain in the Lord Jesus Christ to produce eternal fruit.

INSIGHT

Knowing the Father, walking with Him, and growing to maturity is all about relationships. Every child of the King is intelligently designed to be in a symbiotic relationship with the Father. We are not intended to be independent or separate from Him. We are not wild sheep. We are domesticated sheep in need of a shepherd.

Baarack is an example of what would happen if we were to run off and remove ourselves from His tender, loving care. Even though we are part of the Father’s flock, each child of the King retains their sheep-like temperament even after they believe. This can have highly undesirable consequences.

Isaiah 53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep; each of us had strayed off on his own path,

We are not wild grapes. We are domesticated grapes that require skilled vinedressers to enhance our productivity. Cultivated grapevines are carefully nurtured to yield the greatest possible harvest to optimize wine production. As the divine Vinedresser, the Father does two things to ensure the highest fruit production: He removes unfruitful branches and prunes all the others (ESV notes).

John 15:2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

A bit of background information is helpful regarding the vine and the branches. The normal growth of a grapevine, if left untrimmed, is to spread out by growing long, woody branches. The life force of the vine is directed towards the growth of branches, not growing grapes. The result is a few sparse bunches of grapes. Early on, vintners recognized severe pruning of the branches would alter its natural propensity. Cutting back the branches produced far fewer buds. It forced the vine to devote its life-giving sap to the production of grapes instead of the growth of branches. The result was heavy grape clusters and abundant grape juice for wine production.

Major pruning was done in midwinter, leaving a bare field with small stumps at the beginning of the spring growing season. The farmer hauled off the cut-off branches and burned them so his vines could grow unhindered from the mature stump each year (Bryant and Krause).

What should be gleaned from the scriptural analogies regarding our relationship with Him?

In essence, the analogies convey that the children of the King should understand the importance of allowing the divine Vinedresser to guide their lives. Just as a grapevine’s productivity increases when pruned and cultivated, we too can thrive when we allow the Father to shape us, focusing our energy on fruitful endeavors and fostering a more profound connection with Him.

The analogy of the vine and branches would have instantly resonated with the listening audience. This was no lesson in farming. Instead, it was a lesson on fostering a thriving and essential relationship with the Father, with the ultimate goal of yielding abundant spiritual fruit.

Sheep need to be shorn; vine branches need to be pruned.

When we stray and run off from the shepherd’s loving care and watchful guidance and refuse to be shorn, we risk becoming like Baarack. As branches, we are confronted with a crucial choice: either remain connected to the vine and bear beautiful fruit or become unproductive and useless.

How do we become useless? When we resist and fail to listen and accept, we wither. When our acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ and desire to follow Him is lukewarm or purely superficial. Words without deeds produce leaves without fruit. We are utterly unproductive when we refuse to follow through and simply abandon our faith.

When we are useless, the Lord Jesus Christ categorically states, “For apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Nothing? He does not mean “nothing at all,” for children of the King can carry on the ordinary activities of life apart without remaining in the Lord Jesus Christ. “Rather, it means ‘nothing of eternal value,’ or an inability to produce spiritual fruit” (ESV notes).  

“Uselessness invites disaster” (Barclay).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 6-29-1

© Dr. H 2023