Laying to rest the ones we love is never an easy task, Father, but we are grateful that we find You always by our side.
Romans 11:13-24 (<<click here to read the passage)
I know what grafting is. I’ve watched videos of plants being grafted and the outcome. But I decided to look it up and do a little online research.
I didn’t want it to be too complicated, so I found a website called Academic Kids Encyclopedia and discovered a (relatively) easy-to-understand piece on grafting.
Basically, it is a means of joining parts of two plants together. In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots, and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves or flowers, and is called the scion. This is done with fruit trees too, so you might graft in order to get more or better fruit.
One reason for grafting is because the scion has weak roots or the roots of the stock plants have roots tolerant of difficult conditions.
Paul in this passage is referring to grafting but, in this case, instead of talking about plants, he’s talking about humanity and God. He said in the last part of verse 16 – if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.
The original branches of the tree were the Israelites, God’s chosen people, but over time verse 20 tells us that they were broken off because of unbelief.
We as Gentiles (non-Jews) were not part of the original tree – we are considered wild branches. Paul specifically uses the illustration of a wild olive shoot. Olive trees were a prominent part of culture and trade in Israel. These wild olive shoots – us non-Jews – were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root… v17
We’ve got to keep our pride in check here because – one – we are no better than the native olive branches. We are here only because of our faith. And – two – those native branches that God pruned off because of their unbelief can easily be pruned back in. They may seem dead, but God, after all, is God!
So, we are grafted in not just to take up space and look pretty, we are grafted in to bear fruit! In and of ourselves our roots are weak and unproductive. Grafted into the roots of God, we can become strong – accomplishing and producing more than we ever thought possible. And because we are grafted into those holy roots, we now have the ability to be tolerant of difficult conditions. Where we are intolerant, in God we can be tolerant. When we find ourselves in difficult conditions, we can have the assurance that we are rooted firmly in God’s almighty hands. All praise to God our creator and sustainer!
July 25th, 2023, Tues, 7:54 pm
