Emphasis Preaching Journal

(A)
Last fall my son and I were cleaning out wild grape vines from our woodlot. They were lush and profuse and had climbed to the tops of our oak and maple trees. They were lovely to look at but they were choking out the hardwood trees. And they were useless, for they bore no fruit. Not even the wood was good for burning in the fireplace.

As we worked, I thought of Jesus' words, "Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away ..." Also, I thought of three kinds of people in the world today.