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I am using readings from the 49 Week Bible Challenge as the basis for these devotions. I encourage you to join me in this discipline. Today’s readings are John 15:1-12; 1 Samuel 18; 19; 20; and Ezekiel 15.
Ezekiel 15:1-8
And the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? 4 Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? 5 Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! 6 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 8 And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”
John 15:5
[Jesus says,] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
She held up a small piece of a grape vine for the pastors and pastors’ wives gathered for the leadership conference. She told us that this particular grape vine was wild and would not produce any good grapes, maybe none at all. Then she began to talk about vineyards, grapes, and wine making. Cindy Steinbeck is the author of The Vine Speaks. Her family owns Steinbeck Vineyards in Paso Robles, California.
Little did I know this would open the door to delightful relationships and lessons with far-reaching impact. We would get to know Cindy and learn about vineyards first hand. We learned about pruning, about how the first of the shoots of the vine contain all the information for all the grapes that would grow from that shoot. We also learned that unless the vine was pruned the result would be a lesser quality of grapes, and maybe even a net lesser quantity of grapes. A few years later we even spent a few days at the Steinbeck Vineyards.
The situation in Ezekiel’s day was far from a success story, hardly a fruitful vineyard, and anything but commendable. God compares Jerusalem to a vine. But this is not a fruitful, flourishing vine—it is a useless vine, producing no grapes. A vine branch without fruit is not even good for lumber: you can’t carve furniture or tools from it, and you can’t even make a simple peg to hang something on. Its only use is as fuel for the fire.
Compare that to Jesus! Ezekiel’s vine was destined for the fire, but Jesus is the vine who gives life. Abiding in him, we are not cast aside as useless but are made fruitful branches in the vineyard of God.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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