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Day 48: Performing For an Audience of One (SoS 1:6d)

 “Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept.”

Song of Songs 1:6

Many times in the Bible, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a vineyard with laborers. According to Matthew 24:45, among these servants are those kept in charge of the others, those we know as spiritual authorities and church leaders. These are in the Bride's language her mother's sons: her brothers.

Part of the duties of these leaders is to ensure the furtherance of God's kingdom by delegating duties just like we see when the Apostles appointed deacons in Acts 6.

Aside from the great commission, every man is entrusted with a vineyard (a church or an assignment of some sort) to steward by the Lord. Not every believer will pioneer a church or take the gospel to remote locations. Not every believer will stand on a stage or be in the spotlight. But every believer has a calling he is gifted for. Paul confirms this in 1 Corinthians 7:20:

“Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called.”

The Lord also assigns men to work as co-laborers for others' vineyards. So we have as it were an intermingling of vineyards and laborers. An overseer here may be a co-laborer somewhere else. So we have the individuality of function even as we function together as a body. Paul says in Romans 12:4-6 (The Passion Translation):

“In the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others. God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts...” 

When we join ourselves by leading of God's Spirit to a church or Christian organization to volunteer our time, skill, and material resources to serve the Lord, we must also submit to His assigned overseers in that place. So the brothers were not wrong or unfair to make her a keeper of the vineyards.

Sometimes, however, spiritual leaders may unintentionally overwork zealous believers or take advantage of them. Sometimes, we have wolves in sheep's clothing who use the Lord's people for their own selfish and ulterior motives. Either of these was the bride's case. However, she puts no blame on them but takes responsibility for her vineyard as we all should.

To take care of others' vineyards and neglect ours is to abandon that which has been assigned to us by God to do man's. We must put before our duties to the body our responsibilities to God. We must not serve to gain the recognition of or to please man.

When we serve to gain others' recognition, we begin to burn out and the neglect starts to show in our lives hence the Bride's blackened skin because she had no time for self-care. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Amplified Bible) to be:

“...always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose]. ”

And also says in Galatians 1:10 (The Passion Translation) he says:

“...For if all I attempt to do is please people, I would fail to be a true servant of Christ.”

We are expected to put our all into whatever we do in our service in the Lord's house. But we must do it to please Christ and Christ alone. There is something however that God exalts more than our service to Him. We'll look at that in the next lesson.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, in ways I have neglected You or Your desires to fulfill men's, I ask that you forgive me. I turn my focus away from people-pleasing through my service in Your house, to pleasing You alone. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:
  • Have you discovered your own vineyard and the gifts the Lord has given you to keep it?
  • Evaluate your service in God's house and in the company of other believers, do you labor hard to please man and gain their approval or do you do it solely for God?





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