During covid, I decided I wanted to be a gardener. It was a great time to learn how to grow flowers and vegetables; I know many of you also did the same thing. We had too much time on our hands!
One of the plants that I love and still nurture in my front yard is my limelight. I always plant hydrangeas when given the chance, but this time my yard was a bit too sunny, so limelights were the obvious choice. All of my You Tube research told me that, after the first Spring season, I should cut them down to the stump. I hesitated for far too long, not knowing if that would kill or nourish my new plant babies; then I decided that surely the “experts” on YouTube knew better than I. (Actually, that is a lie, I’m far too skeptical to rely on the internet for such precious things. Instead, I called my grandmother, who confirmed that these so-called “experts” were right. So, upon her word, I cut them back.)
Any gardener can tell you that the Word of God comes alive in His creation. Not only did my beloved limelights come back, but they came back 10-fold. The previously three-stemmed bush currently sits in my front yard so large I’m now faced with how I can contain it in its current location.
God has done the same for us. He did not limit His covenant with Israel; He extended the invitation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul’s imagery of olive branches offers us a clue of what it means to grow the Kingdom of God; some are grafted in, others are pruned to make room and come back better than ever! What a beautiful and understandable image of the offer that Jesus extends to us.
Paul ends with a warning, though, and it’s an important one we don’t want to miss. We are not to take for granted the faith by which we are welcomed into the family of God. After all, it is by grace alone that we have been saved.