THE LORD SPOKE (May 8)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Samuel 14-15

II Samuel 14:14 - "God...devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."

In this story about Absalom, his wayward son, it is David who is being reminded of his relationship to his Father above. Though Absalom ultimately died unrepentant, David's grief for the one he loved (peek ahead to 18:35) is like God's grief for His loved ones when they sin. And David had sinned. Oh, how he had sinned.

God "had every right", so to speak, to banish David after his adultery and murder (II Sam. 12:7-12). Instead, He accepted David's repentance and restored him. After his sin with Bathsheba, David came to acknowledge, "I have sinned" (II Sam. 12:13a). This was the basis for his restoration, just like Adam (Gen. 3:12, "and I ate"), just like Eve (Gen. 3:13, "and I ate"), and just like me. Now in this story in II Samuel 14, David discovers that he needs to pass that kind of grace forward to others.

The parallels with Peter's experience are striking. After his miserable betrayal of the Lord (John 18:15-27), when he had given up and gone back to his former profession (John 21:3), Peter heard the restorative words of his Master, "Feed my sheep...follow me" (John 21:15-19). Not long after, the fisherman-turned-shepherd wrote, "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be..." (I Peter 5:2).

Just think of it. God "devises ways" to restore us. He looks for opportunities and plots means. Aren't you glad that He's the God-of-the-second-chance? Now go read Galatians 6:1-5.


New Testament: Romans 11

Olive trees are quite hardy and can survive harsh conditions and periods of drought. Contrary to most trees with which we’re familiar, they don’t grow out from the center, producing concentric growth rings with the most recent in the middle. On olive trees, the growth is on the outer surfaces, producing a gnarly, twisted trunk and crooked branches. Merciless pruning adds to the stubby appearance of most olive trees.

The way you multiply an olive tree is also affected by this growth pattern. While you can get new starts from seeds or small shoots from the base of a tree, that process is very prolonged. It’s much faster to take a horizontal section of the trunk that has some roots attached and get that into the new space. Then, once the roots have caught hold, branches from another tree can be grafted into the trunk to produce fruit much more quickly. One of the preferred methods is to take good slips from a cultivated tree and graft them into a wild root.

That’s why Paul uses this illustration on multiple levels in Romans 11. First, he reminds his Gentile readers that they are the ones who have been grafted in, not vice-versa. We need to be reminded of that again ourselves. It is we, Gentile Christians, who are the intrusive element. We’ve been grafted into the Jewish trunk - specifically the Abrahamic Covenant. It is from that source that we draw our “nourishing sap” (Rom. 11:17), i.e. our life-sustaining support.

Secondly, Paul speaks of a time when the natural branches will be grafted back into the tree again. We, the wild branches, are there by God’s mercy. There is no room for arrogance (Rom. 11:2-21). God is able to put in or to take out. You can resist that truth and complain about how God does things (see again the two arguments in Romans 9:14-21) or you can break out in a grand doxology of praise like Paul here at the end of Romans 11.

This chapter speaks of the “kindness and sternness” (Rom. 11:22). Which are you experiencing? Which do you prefer? What is it you need to do to get there?