Grafted Into God

Going through Romans 11 today was difficult, i had absolutely no idea what was going on, and with the supplementary I still had no clue of what the chapter was about. But after persisting through, i came across a different version, "The Message" and somethings stood out more clearly.

In the chapter, it talks about how many people in Israel continued to pursue their own self interests and go their own way, trying to figure everything out, yet it never worked, they didnt succeed. Just as Paul has been reminded us the entire time, we have to turn to God instead of ourselves if we want to be victorious and conquer.

 The “self-interest Israel” became thick-skinned toward God. Moses and Isaiah both commented on this:Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways,    God blurred their eyes and dulled their ears,Shut them in on themselves in a hall of mirrors,    and they’re there to this day.

- Romans 11:7-10

Yet God did not give up on Israel, and he will not give up on you too. All the time we turn to idols, or ourselves, when we lose hope and we try to get by ourselves, but why dont we ever turn to God? Time after time we fail, but God has given us second chances, and as it explains the chapter later on, we are like deadwood, old branches that have been grafted into a healthy vine, a growing plant. 

^16-18 Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there’s bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree’s branches were pruned and you wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren’t feeding the root; the root is feeding you. - Romans 11:16-18

But this root is on the foundation that is Christ. He is the one we should be getting our strength from, and our power, he is the one that is to be the source of our life and renewal. Like it says at the end, "you arent feeding the root, the root is feeding you." We have to learn to turn to Christ, especially when all else fails because he is the truly rock that will stand firm through all storms.

Where are you drawing your source of energy from?

verse of the day: Matthew 19:26

²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”