My View of Life - Never Better!

You and Me

The scriptures teach of perilous times in our day. Earthquakes, famines, pestilences, war, even nuclear holocaust, and this is just to name a few. Currently we're experiencing a pestilence, and many in Utah just endured an earthquake. Wars and rumors of war rage. Sin and corruption have reached such depths that the honest, prudent and faithful are perplexed.

But let's not be cumbered by this seemingly insurmountable foe. All we need do is remember who we are and who is in our corner. We are children of almighty God. He is in control, always has been and always will be.

It's comforting to know just who our God is, his very character and how involved he is in our lives. An illustration of our Savior and his love for his vineyard of olives soothes our souls.

Olives and olive trees are symbolic of the wondrous qualities of Christ. Olive oil in Jesus' day was extremely useful, and had a number of uses. It was used for light and warmth, a healing balm, various uses in food preparation, and more. It's the obtaining of the olive oil that's important.

It takes years and years to grow and prepare an olive tree to produce good fruit. Pruning, dunging, grafting and watering for starters. After decades the fruit may be ready for picking. Then comes the difficult part. Extracting the olive oil requires tremendous pressure.

Olive presses were used to create the tremendous pressure necessary to extract the oil. Many of these presses required a mule to pull the huge stone over the olives so that the oil would flow.

Jesus spent his last night prior to his captivity in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he atoned for you and me. He experienced the full extent of our mortal suffering. Imagine our Savior experiencing each of our journeys through life with all of it's struggles, heartbreaks, sickness, injuries, failures, sinful acts and pain.

The cumulative weight for all of us on earth including worlds without number that he created caused him to bleed from every pore. Such suffering we cannot comprehend. We know he sought his Father that the cup might be removed, but he was committed to our Father's will and continued. Father sent an angel to help and strengthen him to keep him going. The drops of blood were great, and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly.

But he did it! He realized the atonement. Now he understands intimately every sorry, pain, sin and agony we can experience. He is there. He is at one with us. And he didn't finish there. He gave his life willingly in the most brutal manner known at the time for you and me that he might rise the third day.

Death where is thy sting? It is no more! Jesus overcame sin and death that we, through him, may overcome them as well. We all shall be resurrected! Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer!

Let's look at our Father's vineyard that we might know intimately what Jesus does for us that we might return to our Father.

The Master of the vineyard, the world is our Father in Heaven and the Servant is our Savior Jesus Christ. The olive garden is the house of Israel or in other words you and me.

It's a long long time from start to finish for an olive tree. Did you know that there may be olive trees in Gethsemane right now that where there when our Savior was here? Caring for these trees takes generations of time, effort, pondering, caring, comforting and so on. Jesus is in this for the long haul with you and me and he's not going to give up.

A major portion of nourishing an olive tree is dunging it. That means digging and carefully placing the filthy foul-smelling manure all around the tree, and mixing it in the soil. But the servant, our Savior is willing and able to get down and dirty with us. Even our worst most painful trials. We can never look in the mirror and say, "no one knows what I'm going through." Jesus does.

Jesus frequently prunes the trees - you and me. Sure it's painful for us, but Jesus' knows the results - the growth, knowledge and wisdom you'll obtain. He does this that he might "preserve" you or in other words help and lift you that you can fight off the temptations of Satan, and endue the covid-19s, (pestilences) and so on.

Then notice the grafting in of branches. Often you are placed here or there and must experience different circumstances. Notice that our Father does this according to his will and pleasure. How wonderful it is, knowing that Father finds pleasure in raising us children! We're not a burden to him. He knows in finite detail the undertakings in life that will help us grow and become strong.

But there are so many times when the olive limbs or roots start to decay, and the fruit becomes wild and unsavory. We see that Father tenderly and continually watches over his vineyard. He continues the work of dunging, pruning, grafting, and preserving us. And he weeps when he sees us use our free agency to make wrong and harmful choices.

In the words of the Master of the Vineyard, our Father, "it grieveth me that I should lose even one of my trees." Oh how wonderful to know that Father does not want to lose even one us.

Then there's the relentless nature of nurturing, the repeating over and over again the dunging, pruning and grafting and so on. We fall, then pick ourselves up again. We fall again and again, and each time our Savior is there loving, soothing and lifting.

At last the final scene begins to wind down. The earth and her inhabitants prepare for the triumphant return of our Savior and Redeemer. The panorama is bleak as Satan has been allowed to unleash all of his fury for one last time. The earth is filled with sin and corruption.

The Father looks over his trees, you and me and weeps again. "What could I have done more? For I have done all. Let us go down and cast the wild and unsavory trees into the fire that they may not cumber the ground any longer."

But his beloved Son steps in, our advocate to Father and says, "let us spare the vineyard a little longer." Father quickly says, "yes, we will spare it a little longer for I can't bear to lose one child. Gather up more servants, (speaking of you and me,) and let us all go down one last time that we may preserve as many trees as we can."

And now, together with our Savior, we are laboring diligently in the vineyard. We're beginning to see good and natural fruit as many gain courage, repent of their sins, and turn their hearts to their Lord and Savior.

And finally, there is another way to interpret the allegory of the olive tree. Jesus Christ can be placed as Master of the Vineyard. He will behold us his little brothers and sisters and say, "what could I have done more? For I have done all. I have tread the olive-press causing me to spill my blood as I journeyed through life with each of you. I gave my life in a most brutal manner. But I did this because I love our Father and I love you. Do you not now know that I am there with you until the end? We've got this, you and me.