In his last published book, “The Excellency of a Broken Heart,” the great puritan author John Bunyan wrote:
“Conversion is not the smooth, easy-going process some men seem to think . . . . It is wounding work, of course, this breaking of the hearts, but without wounding there is no saving. . . . Where there is grafting there is a cutting. The scion must be let in with a wound; to stick it on to the outside or to tie it on with a string would be of no use. The heart must be set to heart and back to back, or there will be no sap from root to branch, and this, I say, must be done by a wound.”
Many blessings come with God’s gift of salvation. However, there are also many troubles and pains. There is the breaking down of our earthly bodies, the desires and temptations of our sinful flesh, and satan (the prowling lion) wishing to destroy us and ruin the joy and goodness in our lives. Additionally, hate and venom are directed toward us from a world the unregenerate part of us so longs to please.
This grafting into God’s family can definitely be painful at times. But, take heart. The joy of being grafted will reveal itself in a weight of glory that we will never see this side of eternity. To suffer with Him and for Him in this world means we will rule and reign with Him in the next. How did this happen? How did we go from being enemies of God (spiritually dead in our trespasses) to being His sons and heirs? In a name, the answer is Jesus.
All By Jesus
Jesus performed the entire work of being grafted into the family of God. It was for His glory and our redemption. His request of us is seemingly simple. He calls us to love Him and abide in Him. In John 15:4-5, Jesus tells His disciples to abide in Him four times. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.” Abiding in Jesus seems so simple on the surface, but it takes a lifetime to learn. God’s grace has given us His Spirit and Church to lead us and help us.
In Romans 11, Paul addresses the Gentiles (non-Jewish people); he masterfully uses nature to illustrate how God has made the Gentile church as much His own as the Jews. He speaks of the unbelieving Jews as “broken branches” and believing Gentiles as “wild olive shoots.” Paul points out that we Gentiles, “although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree.” He adopts us as heirs by this miraculous cultivation. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood.
Abide in Him
Sometimes abiding in Jesus is peaceful and joyous. Other times it means sacrifice and a broken heart. The grafting process can hurt. But as Psalm 51:17 reminds us, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
How will you abide in Jesus today? In your joy, peace, and rest, will you praise Him? Will you honor Him as Lord of all (in your pain and sorrow) and echo Jesus’ words, “not my will, but Yours”? In your apathy and sinfulness, will you remember His body, bruised and bloodied, for the sake of your soul? Repent of your sins, forsake the desires of your flesh, turn toward Him, and acknowledge Him as your Savior and King.
Being grafted in joyful pain,
Posted in A Word from the Pastor