Spare It A Little Longer

Upon opening my scriptures the other morning for my study I realized that I was at the chapter of Jacob that most people just read to get through it because of it's difficulty to understand and it's great length of 77 verses. Yep, that is Jacob 5. I hesitated to study it, especially after having just woken up half an hour prior. I didn't think my mind was in the right state to be able to gain anything from it. I decided to read it anyway and quickly learned to never underestimate the power of prayer and the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, even in the grogginess of the morning. My eyes, mind, and heart were open as they had never been in past experiences reading this chapter. I wanted to share my insights.

(Disclaimer: These are solely my personal insights; nothing I say will or ought to be claimed as church doctrine).

In the beginning of the chapter it starts out by speaking of one olive tree. This tree had started to decay and the master of the vineyard and his servant began pruning it and digging about it that it may put forth young and tender branches and so it would not perish. The Lord and through His servants have been pruning me through my growing up years. My growing up years were far from perfect and I still had some wild branches that needed to be plucked and cast into the fire. We all have weaknesses and faults that are always needing to be plucked and cast into the fire. The Lord and his servants had prunged and digged about me to create strong roots, which He could trust to keep the rest of the tree alive.

Once the Lord and his servants saw that the roots were strong enough and that I had many good branches He wanted to place me in other places of the vineyard where my strength could be used for good to other growing trees. The Lord planted me and grafted me in places of the vineyard that varied in degrees of greatness. He placed me in soil that was poor, but he also placed me in soil that was rich. He grafted me into withering trees as well as into strong trees. These places and trees for me include: my family, close friends, roommates, Anasazi, BYU-Idaho, wards, callings, activities (sports, outdoor adventures, etc.), and any other involvement that I have had in places and in people's lives.

All the while in these places the Lord was pruning, digging, plucking, grafting, dunging me, etc.; He was keeping my root system strong. The places and people that I was surrounded by also helped me to grow as the Lord was pruning, digging, plucking, grafting, and dunging them as well. Growth is sometimes painful and is hard. The Lord of the vineyard knows that and puts us in places or places certain people in our life to enrich our life and help us in our journey with the growing pains. But as they have influence on my life, I too had influence on their lives. Through the Lord I have produced good fruit. Good fruit comes from following the commandments and putting the Lord's will over our own will. (verses 1-24)

I think I can safely say that in almost everybody's life there comes a time when we begin producing evil fruit and the branches on our tree begin dying. It starts little and if not stopped begins to spread and has a far greater reaching effect than one could have ever imagined. And when we start to break down it is an invitation for Satan to come into our lives even more powerfully, even to the point where he continues kicking you while you're down over and over again. Of course there are varying degrees to how far one falls. If not stopped deep damage occurs, such as: relationships going sour, fond memories becoming tainted, experiences becoming bitter, great losses occur, and everything we seem to touch or have relation to seems to go bad or die. We feel like we are in a never-ending blackening downward spiral. All our fruit has become evil. All of our branches have begun to decay. And the Master of the vineyard cries out, "What could I have done more for my vineyard?" But the truth of the matter is that the Lord did everything He could to help us produce good fruit and strong branches. It is our agency that He has given us that He cannot control. It is our pride that obscures and limits our growth. The Lord does everything He can for us, but ultimately it is up to us to choose whether we produce good fruit and branches or evil fruit and branches.

The good news is that the despite all of the bad and despite our agency the Lord of the vineyard NEVER gives up on us. The Lord knows that the roots are still good and because the roots are still good that is enough. (verses 25-51)

The Master of the vineyard and his servants began bringing back the branches they had scattered throughout the vineyard to the main mother tree; the original tree they initially took from in the beginning of the chapter. The end was nigh at hand and the season speedily cometh. The Master and many enlisted servants began to prepare the way that the vineyard may be saved. They diligently worked day in and day out plucking, digging, grafting, and dunging the tree. This was done over a long period of time so not overwhelming for the tree to handle. Little by little. And slowly the evil was plucked away and the vineyard began bringing forth good fruit and branches again.

"And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.

And there began to be the natural fruit again in the vineyard; and the natural branches began to grow and thrive exceedingly; and the wild branches began to be plucked off and to be cast away...

And thus they labored with all diligence, according to the commandents of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard and Lord has preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning" (v. 72-74).

Through the combination of the Master of the vineyard, his called servants, and our obedience to the commandments slowly and over time the evil in our hearts are plucked out, our branches and roots grow even stronger, and our fruit is the most sweet above all because it is the fruit of Christ that we are growing in our lives and offering to others. The plucking, digging, dunging, and grafting is painful, but we must know the pain in order to know the sweet; and we must go through the pain in order to get to and receive the sweet. The beauty of it all is that the Master of the Vineyard will never give up on us. He will always do everything He can to help us grow strong and produce good fruit. The Lord will always "spare [us] a little longer" because He knows us and He knows our divine potential. Trust Him. Let Him pluck your heart in your striving to keep the commandments and all the pain and struggle will be worth it when He says to you, "Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father."

*I would love to hear your insights, ideas, comments, etc. so please feel free to post comments!