“Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?” Ezekiel 15:2-3
God regularly used the vine as a symbol for Israel. The wood of a vine is soft and weak, so it’s not useful for making anything—not even a peg—as the wood is too weak to support any weight. Furthermore vine wood isn’t even a good fuel because it burns too quickly. The only thing a vine is good for is producing grapes.
God’s purpose for Israel was to be fruitful and to be a source of blessing to others. Despite her outward show of religious and agricultural activity, she wasn’t being fruitful in the way God intended and therefore she wasn’t useful for anything.
Likewise, God is looking for fruitfulness from his people today and not a religious performance. Fruitfulness comes from being, not doing. Grapevines don’t work hard to produce grapes. They’re attached to the main vine and allow the nourishment of the soil, the sun and the rain, to do their work.
God desires our attachment to him, so he can release his enabling power through our lives and be fruitful. God desires to “enlarge the harvest of [our] righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10). But this can only be done if we allow the soil, the sun and the rain of God’s Word and his Spirit to work in our lives. That is, when we acknowledge our dependency on God to empower us.
Fruitfulness grows out of a relationship with God. Fruit comes when we are firmly attached to the vine and draw nourishment from him.
