#7: One of the Great Metaphors
The True Vine of Life
This is the seventh in a series of the 12 greatest metaphors for life.
The breath of life: a person can live three minutes without air.
The shelter of life: in harsh climes a person can live 3 hours without shelter.
The water of life: a normal person can live three days without water.
The bread of life: the average person can live about three weeks without food.
The light of life: if the sun were to stop giving its light, global temperatures would drop, plants would die, trees would vanish, and all life would cease to exist.
The tree of life: without trees, we would have little fruit to provide our bodies with the antioxidants we so desperately need. In addition, trees provide beauty and shade, as well as leaves which provide healing substances.
The True Vine of life: up to this time, we have looked at the necessities of physical life. The vine of life represents something deeper: abundant life.
The True Vine of Life
The Bible speaks often of grapes and vineyards:
The first thing Noah did when he left the ark was plant a vineyard.
It was a giant grape cluster that tipped off the spies that the promised land was rich and productive.
It was over a vineyard that righteous Naboth lost his life for refusing to sell it to wicked Ahab.
Grapes were not meant merely for food. By design, God gave a very special characteristic to grapes: they ferment very easily into wine. This was no accident, nor mistake. God knew exactly how to design grapes. While fruit is a necessity for life, wine represents something deeper: abundant life.
Wine Represents Joy and Gladness.
While it is true that Paul told Timothy to take some wine for his stomach -- i.e. for medicine, wine more often represents joy and gladness.
Psalm 104:15 says God gave "wine which makes man’s heart glad."
Wine is also compared with the joy of the Holy Spirit.
And Jesus' first recorded miracle involved turning water into wine. Jesus takes the mundane picture of life (water) and turns it into the abundant picture of life (wine).
Jesus Himself drank wine with His friends.
Wine is also one of the elements used in the very communion with God (unfortunately, many miss this picture by preference to unfermented grape juice).
Grapes give the body sustenance, but wine brings joy. What a fitting picture of our Savior, who is the True Vine (John 15:1).
Jesus is the True Vine
From Him we get both life and life abundantly (John 10:10). He is the life-giver and the joy-giver. And we are called to share in His vine as branches (John 15:5). And when we do, we too will bear fruit.
In fact, this is exactly what Christ appoints His people to do (John 15:16). What is the fruit that Christ calls us to produce? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. When we stay attached to the True Vine, we partake of both His life-giving fruit and the joy of fellowship of His Holy Spirit.
Christ is both our sustenance and our joy.
Application
The metaphor of the True Vine should cause us to evaluate the use of wine in our own lives and churches. Do we wrongfully hold others to a standard higher than our Lord? Have we thrown out this picture of joy due to a legitimate abuse? Drunkenness to be sure is a sin. But wine is a picture of joy.
Gluttony, sexual immorality, and gossip are also sins, unlawful uses of lawful things. Does this mean we stop eating food, refuse sex with our spouses, and take vows of silence?
Let us be careful not to call something evil which Christ calls good.
Our God knows exactly how we should live in the world He designed.
Please share His goodness with others by sharing this post on your favorite social media.