Recently the Holy Spirit prompted me to read the lyrics of the song “Old Rugged Cross” by George Bennard, a traveling minister. When I asked God why He highlighted this song, the Holy Spirit prompted me to look into the song’s history. George Bennard wrote the song after being ridiculed by several youths at a revival meeting. It bothered him that there was such indifference and disrespect for the gospel, which prompted him to turn to God and read the Word, seeking out the fullness of the gospel. He wrote “Old Rugged Cross,” expressing the truths he had learned.
As I sat with God, seeking His revelation about this song and its history, He led me on a journey. This journey required me to study the actions of Bennard and his reactions. I asked God many questions, and throughout the few days of studying, this song and its history brought several things to my attention. God showed me how Bennard went to the Word to find his answers and took his time with God. It took several months for him to complete the song, and it was truly an outpouring of the truth he had discovered.
During my time of study, God kept highlighting John 15:5 (AMP) “I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” I realized that Bennard made a choice to remain in God instead of walking away after facing opposition to sharing the gospel. He pressed into the truth of the Word and poured out amazing fruit through his song and ministry.
As I continued to meditate on this revelation, the words “fruit” and “pressing” were highlighted. I was inspired to look up the winemaking process. Good wine comes from good fruit. This good fruit starts with fertile ground and the right balance of sunshine and water. The vine this fruit comes from has been trained up and supported through a trellising process. Once the fruit is ripe, it is harvested. After harvesting this fruit, it gets processed through many steps to make a beautiful-tasting wine.
One of the many steps to making wine is the pressing process. Pressing releases the last of the juice from the fruit skins and separates the seeds and skin from the juice. Then the wine goes through the fermenting process.
I found this study on winemaking to be enlightening. For me, it sheds light on why God uses the parable of the vine because it shows us what He wants to do with our hearts and lives. As children of God, we are a part of the Vine, Jesus. If we choose to be trained up and supported and receive all that God has for us, we become delicious fruit that delights our Father’s heart. When we allow God to press us and separate out the things in our life that separate us from Him and cause a bitter taste, we become like honey to His lips. As we live our lives abiding in Him, we become the beautiful, overflowing cup of love and blessing that God created us to be.
God’s ultimate goal is that we not only choose to become His children and be grafted into His vine, His family, but that we also have abundant, fruit-bearing life through Him. He desires to pour out His love, His passion, His abundance, and good gifts on us, and to receive this; we must choose to abide in Him and remain in Him. He can only pour into us if we are connected to Him.
A visual demonstration of this concept of abiding would be how our physical bodies are created. Life-giving blood flows through our veins. If that life-giving blood is cut off from a particular area, such as a leg, that body part will die. God has given us the choice to remain in Him. However, if we choose to disconnect from our life source in Christ, we will eventually stop bearing good fruit, wither, and die.
Christ made the ultimate sacrifice to enable us to choose between life and death. He died on that cross so that we might be grafted into Him, the Vine, and live an abundant life, bearing amazing fruit. This fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)—can influence and bring freedom to every part of our lives and the lives of those we intersect with.
Through this journey, I am discovering choices that God is challenging me to make. Am I willing to be trained and disciplined? Am I willing to be pressed until all the ugly is separated from the good? Am I ready to go through the refinement process to produce beautiful fruit that I can share with others? Ultimately, is it worth the cost to live out the gospel for all to see and taste? I pray that answer is “yes,” and I pray that answer is “yes” for anyone who answers the call of the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Galatians 5:22-23 (TPT) But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
Beautiful art piece and beautiful word.