Advent: Day 14: His Vineyard

49 And it came to pass that the Lord
of the vineyard said unto the servant:
Let us go to and hew down the trees
of the vineyard and cast them into the
fire, that they shall not cumber the
ground of my vineyard, for I have
done all. What could I have done
more for my vineyard?

50 But, behold, the servant said unto
the Lord of the vineyard: Spare it a
little longer.

51 And the Lord said: Yea, I will spare
it a little longer, for it grieveth me that
I should lose the trees of my vineyard.

I used to avoid chapter 5 in the Book of Jacob, until I read these three verses. After seeing all of the terrible things happening in the vineyard: to the Lord’s trees, branches, leaves and roots, I can’t help but think that the way He feels in chapter 5, is the way He feels about the wickedness of His children.

I can only imagine the Lord saying, “What could I have done more for my vineyard?” with sadness and a broken heart. What more could God do for us (the vineyard)? What could He have done differently? More or less? Better or worse? More merciful or more just? These are the questions that, I think, must be running through His mind!

Aside from those questions, I don’t think the Lord could have done any more than what He already did: He sent His Son. He sent His Son to Atone for our sins, weaknesses, anger, offensiveness, and much more. He sent His Son so that we can live with Him again. I picture Jesus Christ as the servant, replying, “Spare it a little longer.”

Christ is pleading with our Father in Heaven. Please, spare it a little longer. Forgive them one more time. Accept their apology just once more. On my behalf, please don’t take it out on them. Forgive them Father. —How incredible is that!? Christ is literally pleading our cause. He is sacrificing Himself for us; so that we do not have to go through so much pain.

And do you want to know what the best part is? —The Lord spares his vineyard a little longer. Why? Because “it grieveth [Him] that [He] should lose the trees of [His] vineyard.” I could most definitely not ask for a greater gift of love from God, than that. The Lord forgave us, one more time. The Lord accepted our apology, once more. The Lord wrapped His loving arms of mercy around us, once again. He told us He still loves us, one more time.

Oh my heart. These three verses are such a testimony builder for me. The Lord does not want to lose us. He does not want to send us away to never live with Him again. He wants us Home. He wants to see us again. And in order to do that, we needed an advocate. There needed to be an Atonement. He sent His most Beloved Son, to us so that we may be forgiven, and return to Him safely. Our Heavenly Father truly loves us with all that He is. All the love He has to offer is ours, if we, repent where repenting is needed and keep the commandments.

The Lord loves us my dear sisters; please do not ever forget it.

Ashley Ziegler

I’m a mormon, wife, photographer, digital media major, blogger and creative entrepreneur. I love to read books, go hiking, drink hot-chocolate and watch movies. I also enjoy coloring, pedicures and sunshine!