This chapter would be easy to skip over- but don't. It seems to concern issues that might not concern us- but it does. It references Old Testament that you may have not read. But God spoke directly to me when I read this chapter previously a couple months ago, and I am happy to revisit it, and give you my testimony concerning it.
I would like you to read part of this chapter in The Message version, verses 16-24. I think The Message paraphrases this passage well and maybe you too can relate to how it is explained.
16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there's bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree's branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren't feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
19-20 It's certainly possible to say, "Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!" Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you're on the tree is because your graft "took" when you believed, and because you're connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don't get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.
21-22 If God didn't think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn't give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don't presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you're out of there.
23-24 And don't get to feeling superior to those pruned branches down on the ground. If they don't persist in remaining deadwood, they could very well get grafted back in. God can do that. He can perform miracle grafts. Why, if he could graft you—branches cut from a tree out in the wild—into an orchard tree, he certainly isn't going to have any trouble grafting branches back into the tree they grew from in the first place. Just be glad you're in the tree, and hope for the best for the others.
For me, I looked at myself like the wild olive shoot- now being nourished by the Holy God. Sometimes, I took pride in where I was and who I was in the Lord, only to be reminded from this text, that it's nothing I do to be there, but God who brought me there. I know in my past I have hurt others because of my pride- thinking I was holier than them, "crowing" at them, trying to teach them all the things I was learning. I was cocky and "strutted my branch" as if to think it was I who connected myself with the Tree. There are people who are olive shoots just like I was- since I know the amazing nourishment that comes from the Tree, shouldn't I want the best for those who are broken branches, on the ground with out connection to the Root? If you are reading this, and I have hurt you in my pride, my apologies are greatly given. I do not want to be proud. I want to be humbly mindful of the Root that keeps me lithe and green. I don't want to think my leaves greener than they are. I don't want pride to make me to fall- to be broken and be deadwood. I am grateful that God in His mercy- and only by Him, did He graft me in to His nourishing self. I want to be pruned- in a way that I can grow healthier- not in a way that is cut off. Instead of feeling superior over the branches that were broken off because they were dead, without faith, I want to pray that they would, like me, be reminded of the only nourishing and supporting Root- Jesus. Without Him, they are just deadwood. With Him, they can be accepted to receive all that He provides. Don't be like how I was, thinking I had it together and judging brothers and sisters in Christ. If you see a fellow Christian who seems to be falling away, instead of "crowing" over them, pray for them. Crowing over anyone, does no one any good. No one comes to Jesus or comes back in relation with Him because you nagged them or judged them. Remember who you are. You are just a branch. You are not the root. Remember, all that keeps you alive is the Root. Be humble then, and honor Him, not yourself.
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
I would like you to read part of this chapter in The Message version, verses 16-24. I think The Message paraphrases this passage well and maybe you too can relate to how it is explained.
16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there's bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree's branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren't feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
19-20 It's certainly possible to say, "Other branches were pruned so that I could be grafted in!" Well and good. But they were pruned because they were deadwood, no longer connected by belief and commitment to the root. The only reason you're on the tree is because your graft "took" when you believed, and because you're connected to that belief-nurturing root. So don't get cocky and strut your branch. Be humbly mindful of the root that keeps you lithe and green.
21-22 If God didn't think twice about taking pruning shears to the natural branches, why would he hesitate over you? He wouldn't give it a second thought. Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot. But don't presume on this gentleness. The moment you become deadwood, you're out of there.
23-24 And don't get to feeling superior to those pruned branches down on the ground. If they don't persist in remaining deadwood, they could very well get grafted back in. God can do that. He can perform miracle grafts. Why, if he could graft you—branches cut from a tree out in the wild—into an orchard tree, he certainly isn't going to have any trouble grafting branches back into the tree they grew from in the first place. Just be glad you're in the tree, and hope for the best for the others.
For me, I looked at myself like the wild olive shoot- now being nourished by the Holy God. Sometimes, I took pride in where I was and who I was in the Lord, only to be reminded from this text, that it's nothing I do to be there, but God who brought me there. I know in my past I have hurt others because of my pride- thinking I was holier than them, "crowing" at them, trying to teach them all the things I was learning. I was cocky and "strutted my branch" as if to think it was I who connected myself with the Tree. There are people who are olive shoots just like I was- since I know the amazing nourishment that comes from the Tree, shouldn't I want the best for those who are broken branches, on the ground with out connection to the Root? If you are reading this, and I have hurt you in my pride, my apologies are greatly given. I do not want to be proud. I want to be humbly mindful of the Root that keeps me lithe and green. I don't want to think my leaves greener than they are. I don't want pride to make me to fall- to be broken and be deadwood. I am grateful that God in His mercy- and only by Him, did He graft me in to His nourishing self. I want to be pruned- in a way that I can grow healthier- not in a way that is cut off. Instead of feeling superior over the branches that were broken off because they were dead, without faith, I want to pray that they would, like me, be reminded of the only nourishing and supporting Root- Jesus. Without Him, they are just deadwood. With Him, they can be accepted to receive all that He provides. Don't be like how I was, thinking I had it together and judging brothers and sisters in Christ. If you see a fellow Christian who seems to be falling away, instead of "crowing" over them, pray for them. Crowing over anyone, does no one any good. No one comes to Jesus or comes back in relation with Him because you nagged them or judged them. Remember who you are. You are just a branch. You are not the root. Remember, all that keeps you alive is the Root. Be humble then, and honor Him, not yourself.
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
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