Father, what a picture of joy and hope when You say “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert.” Because in the desert, very little grows. The lack of water and the intense heat plus sandy soil produce low, scrawny plant life. But to find grapes: something juicy and good that can nourish, is a wonderful and valuable find!
When living in or crossing the desert, a find like this can be the difference between life and death.
A similar picture is seen in the next part of the verse: “when I saw your fathers, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree.” For a fig tree is different from most other fruit trees. It will take four to five years, and sometimes six or seven years for a fig tree to produce it’s first crop of figs.
So all those years, care must be taken to keep it watered and fertilized and protected from the weather and winds, parasites and disease so it will be healthy enough to produce. Then, when seeing the early fruit, you know it has all been worth it! There is success! And hope of many more harvests to come.
Both of these create an emotional response of relief, satisfaction – that the future is secure and what has been done and accomplished was worth it. I love seeing this in projects or ministries I have been involved with and lives I have impacted. It is a good feeling that any positive influence will continue on in their lives. I feel that same delight and hope when I think of my children.
But then all was taken away: “…they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.”
Delight is erased. Hopes are dashed. Joy is replaced with sadness, grief and anguish over the loss of those involved and the prospect of the joyous future that had been envisioned.
Father, do You delight in each one of us, and then anguish when we fall away from You?
I am Your child. Keep me from turning away from You. Show me clearly where and when there are idols I have been drawn to: pride, possessions, money, fame, popularity, whatever.
Help me and my children and loved ones walk in a manner worthy of You. Father, let “our mouths be filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.” We give You thanks and praise! Amen
Daily Bible Prayer 