Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory is like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word which was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:22-25
A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
The people are indeed grass!
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:6-8
My heart has been struck like grass and has withered,
Indeed, I forget to eat my bread.
Because of the loudness of my groaning
My bones cling to my flesh.
I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the ruins.
I lie awake,
I have become like a solitary bird on a housetop. Psalm 102:4-7
We are more fragile in our physical state than our soul will admit. Our physical lives are but a short breath in eternity’s sight. Our physical and emotional lives must be submitted to the Vine. We must surrender our will to Him. We must do that which He has instructed us (by the Holy Spirit / not what we think) to do. Our time can come to a close much faster than we expect. We must be ready at all times to step into eternity. The enemies of God only want us to view things through our own ‘self’ and NOT through the wisdom and understanding from the Holy Spirit. We MUST learn and discipline ourselves to LISTEN to the Holy Spirit who resides within us. We MUST learn to differentiate between His voice and our own voice within our minds. For our real eternal ‘life’ ONLY has value only when connected to the Vine.
Jesus says …
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love.” John 15:1-9
How connected are you to the Vine? Do you receive EVERYTHING from Him? Life, breath, wisdom, understanding, instruction, forgiveness, love, joy, peace, hope … is He your Source of all of that? How much of you still has to die in that process of reprogramming to His life in you?
Isn’t better to die today to ourselves – than be surprised later? Or be led into all sorts of self-related works that have no eternal value? Are you ready to give it ALL back to Him every morning? Do you tell Him that … every morning?
Are you terminally committed to Christ?