BULLSEYE!
ACCURATE
BIBLE
KNOWLEDGE!
It’s
a common fact that people who own vineyards need to cut back their
vines right
back so that no grapes grow for a couple of years.
For
a different reason … BUT God is trying to get their attention as well.
From
an earthly point of view it can seem destructive, but this
pruning … the
Bible calls it chastening, yields blessings (Heb 12:11).
AN
INTERACTION BETWEEN A FOOTBALL COACH AND
FOOTBALL PLAYER:
Coach: “I
want you to do these drills”
Player:
“What’s the point coach – they don’t do any
good. I’d rather do this.”
Coach: “If
you want to be in the top team, you must
do what I say.”
Player: “I
quit! This doesn’t make any sense.”
This unpruned
player is soon found, one year
later, with no job, living in a caravan, drinking and using drugs.
Teacher:
“I want you to do these scales”
Student:
“What’s the point – they don’t do any
good. I’d rather go free form.”
Teacher:
“If you want to be a top pianist, you must
do what I say.”
Student:
“I quit! This doesn’t make any sense.”
Teacher:
“I want you to get a paint brush and some
paint and paint my fence like this – up-down, up-down ... then go
sideways like
this left-right, left-right … and do them twenty times each and repeat
ten
times. Do this twenty times a day! …. (from the ‘The Karate Kid’ movie)
Student:
“Painting! No way! It won’t do any good.
I’d rather do real moves.”
Teacher:
“If you want to beat your next opponent,
you must do what I say.”
Student:
“I quit! This doesn’t make any sense.”
1. Get the
best teacher!
2. Do what he
says!
A
Christian’s best teacher is to follow the Apostle
Paul (Romans to Philemon) as he follows Christ.
Abraham
and Sarah
Barren
till 100 years old but then give birth to
Isaac.
Two pruned
trees waiting to bring forth the fruit
of Isaac.
Well
stricken in years but then give birth to
John the Baptist.
Two pruned
trees waiting to bring forth the fruit
of John.
Pruning
seems to destroy the vine as the gardener
cuts it all away, but God looks to the future and knows the final
outcome will
more than compensate. It’s called THE LONG GAME.
DEAR
CHRISTIAN ARE YOUR EYES FOCUSSED ON THE LONG
GAME?
As a
Christian you’ll never produce proper fruit
for the Lord unless you stop whining and whingeing
about all your
troubles – which are pruning exercises from the Lord.
You’ll
never get these blessings of real fruit in
your life, unless you are ready to pay the price of pruning. You can’t
get them
except through the suffering that comes from God’s pruning.
Here’s a
little poem:
MUCH PAIN
MUCH BLESSING
(from
“Streams in the Desert”)
**** ****
Harley Hitchcock
www.
AustralianBibleMinistries
.com
Australian Bible Ministries, PO
Box 5058 Mt. Gravatt East 4122 Qld, Australia
www.AustralianBibleMinistries.com