On Sunday during worship I felt led to read from second kings, chapters 22 and 23 (page 333 in my bible) and it had to do with the reforms under King Josiah. Essentially the book of the Law had been lost for 70+ years, and one of the priests finds it and brings it to the King. When Josiah hears the Law, he tears his robes in sorrow, for they have clearly not been following the Law. After inquiring of a prophet, he calls an assembly of all the people, and these verses are the account of that - 2 Kings 23:1-4 NIV:
[1] "Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. [2] He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets---all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. [3] The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord---to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.
[4] The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel."
As I was reading through these verses I immediately started thinking of the things of man that have made it into our present day worship of God, for that was clearly what Josiah was addressing after reading the Law. His forefathers, the two previous Kings and the priests who served under them had brought into the temple items associated with the worship of false gods. They had sullied God's name, reputation and worship. Their message was that God was not all powerful, so they brought in other superstitions and practices, and it was an ugly thing.
It was only after going back to the Law that the people were aware of how far they had fallen, and that was in 70-ish years. They had even forgot there was a book of the Law!
My question was, "what in my belief of God is purely man-made?" I continued to wonder, "what things have been forgotten, or lost their appeal or importance to the present day Body of Christ, that were of essential importance in the early days of the church?"
I think these are important questions that we need to consider as the church! I think these are important questions that I need to consider for my own life in following Christ! Holy Spirit, You are our guide, our teacher and You remind us of the truth, help us, help me!
Continuing on with that reflection, during worship, I was reminded of Jesus speaking of the pruning of the vine in John 15. I turned there and saw something that caught my eye. Here are the verses - John 15:1-4 NIV:
[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."
While I am sure this is not earth-shattering, my focus was drawn to verse 1. Whenever I have read these verses in the past I have always focused on the pruning, as something the Lord does with us. I have seen the Lord prune me, clean me, walk me through seasons of revelation and repentance, where I realize that there is something in my life that is not in line with His word, and His purpose and plan for me. (This is the bit that reminds me of the verses in 2 Kings 23). I am always grateful, in retrospect, when the Lord leads me through seasons of cleaning, knowing that His intention is to help me bear more fruit.
Getting back to the verses at hand, what I saw so clearly on Sunday was that Jesus was the one getting pruned! Again, as I said, not earth shattering revelation, since that is exactly what Jesus said, but I guess I saw it in a different light. He welcomes the personal pruning and cleaning, for it is His Father who is doing it and He is faithful, loving, and gentle. He clears and cuts away those things that do not bear fruit, and these are things (people and practices if you will) connected to Jesus, the True Vine. Again, as the True Vine, these are removed from Jesus, and while pruning has its benefits, it is essentially cutting away! It was this revelation that grabbed my attention!
Switching from the Vine analogy to the Body analogy, this is the Father treating illness within the Body of Christ! He is removing those things that are detrimental or non-fruit bearing, and is strengthening and cleaning those that are beneficial and life giving!
If we were to take a very heavy example, my wife had melanoma in her leg, and once identified had surgery to remove that cancer. While the spot as small, they removed a large section of skin and underlying tissue, and even lymph-nodes to make sure that sickness was unable to spread! This is and example of the pruning/cutting to remove those things that are not beneficial. On the other hand, we can look at the lives of professional athletes, who leave much of their old ways to embrace a season of training, diet and focus where their sole goal is to become stronger and more capable in whatever sport they are participating! They are pruning / cleaning their lives for the hope of better fruit (faster times, heavier weights lifted, higher scores, etc.)
In my verses of focus this morning, it is the Lord who cleans and prunes! First in 2 Kings, the Law, given by the Lord, was the guide for the cleaning of the temple, and the worship of the King, priests and people. It was in reading the words that Josiah realized that much of what had been allowed was wrong and He began the process of cleaning the land! His focus was to bring the people back to true worship. In John 15, the Father has begun cleaning Jesus, and He is the one who is doing so with a clear purpose and plan. The maximum fruitfulness of Jesus, of His ministry, of His Body, is the Father's goal, according to Jesus! Jesus' word is that which is accomplishing this cleaning of us, and it is for His purpose!
Hopefully that makes sense, sometimes my early morning writing doesn't flow as thoroughly as I would like! My encouragement this morning is to ask the Lord to clean me, to prune me that my life might bear more fruit for Him! I am convinced there is much in me that is not of Him, and He knows what to clean and prune and when to do so for the maximum fruitfulness! I am encouraged that His pruning and cleaning is something I should welcome, even though it might be painful for a while! I am also encouraged knowing that my relationship with Jesus means that He is fully aware of any pruning in me, for I am connected to the Him, the True Vine. As such, He has mercy and compassion on me, for He knows exactly what that cleaning and pruning entails.
Thank You Lord for revelation that causes me to press further into You and Your purposes! I want to be fruitful for You!
Amen and Amen!
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