Accepting Graft-hood

It is a wonder to me that each of us are adopted sons and daughters into the Body of Christ, grafted in, if you will. Wild unruly things, some thorny and rigid, others more easily flexible and supple, grafted into the Vine of Christ, He the Vine, we the branches, grafted amongst those naturally growing branches of His chosen people, the Jewish tribes. When I contemplate the love He has demonstrated for me… His sacrifice through death for my eternal salvation and life, I am humbled at this wondrous reality. My love for others pales in comparison. Oh, to love so perfectly and completely!

Becoming a blended family has brought this grafting experience into my reality. The interweaving of four children all from the same father, two each from different mothers, has been our very own experience of grafting. We all, no matter our background, race, religion, heritage, are given life by the same Father. Entrance into this world is gifted by Him who has designed the miraculous possibility of new creation and birth. We might think to take credit for producing our children… no, we participated in receiving a gift given to us.

Our family has also been a flourishing example of differences in individuals, personalities, life choices, experiences, interpretations of how their father and mother raised them, and their embracing or rejecting those teachings. Much like the struggles we have with our Heavenly Father and His teachings (understanding, accepting, rejecting) so are we with our earthly parents. “Have I been rebelling against my father all these years?” I cried to the LORD during a time of recent deep grief. Surprised by that insight I wondered at the deeper truths of it and how it may reflect how have I been rebelling against God as well.

We are all grafted in some fashion in this earthly life, no matter the station we inherit, or attain. We are never the original source… we have all come from parents before us, who came from parents before them, and so on, all the way back to the creation of the first man and woman. Grafting. The joining of two separate entities into one cohesive unit… a loose definition on my part, but you get the idea… none of us can claim pride of our own self-made autonomy. Though individuals, we are closely interwoven. We are grafted to our very core. No wonder God ordained that “the two shall become one” in marriage. Two entities, one cohesive unit.

When a host accepts a new graft, a wound, or opening, in the host is necessary for the graft placement. The graft must integrate into its new medium, accepting the condition of the stronger host in order to flourish. So it is in this world, whether pertaining to family, employment, health issues, spiritual realities, or other concerns. We are all part of something or someone bigger than ourselves.

Am I willing to submit to God’s plan? Accept His design for the grafting of me He has created? Am I willing to receive all He has to offer when I put my hand in His to follow Him, to learn what He has to teach me of becoming healthy and strong? Jesus claims in John 15:5 (NKJV): 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

May we choose wisely to whom or what we become grafted… and ultimately to the long-term result.