The Lord Labored With the Servant

"...time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor in the vineyard.

 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labor" (Jacob 5:15-16)

This passage stood out to me. I was kind of expecting that I would be writing about an olive tree or the way it was nurtured, or the kind of ground they were planted in, etc. But this really jumped out as very pointed to me.

For some context, the Lord of the vineyard was trying to save his favorite tree. He tried a number of things to keep his tree, and keep it bearing good fruit. He was involved in how they would go about saving the tree, and he was involved in doing the actual work.

I think sometimes, we feel like we get instruction from the Lord, and then we go about our way and do our best to follow it. Even the faithful often think of Him as always being there for us, as if He were some sort of moral support person. Through the Holy Ghost, we feel good about decisions we make, or things that we do, when we're choosing the right, but there you have it. WE have to make the decisions and act on them.

While this is true, or else the whole agency part of God's plan would be frustrated, we must realize that more often than we think, the Lord is not just cheering us on, hoping we successfully complete the task that He has given us. No, more often than we realize, He is right there with us, working side by side. I think it's interesting that the way it is written in the allegory in Jacob 5, it sure sounds to me that the Lord of the vineyard went down into the vineyard to labor, and the servant went along. It wasn't the other way around. The Lord of the vineyard didn't just sit there and say "Ok, servant, go out and prune that tree, and dig about it for a while, and I'll come check in with you later", or even "Go, servant! You can do it. You're the best tree pruner I've seen." No, he's saying "Come with me, servant, and we will work together. Both of us will prune, both of us will dig. Both of us." I think that our lives are frequently like this. It's not that the Lord says "Go comfort that sorrowing neighbor and then come back and tell me how it went". No, He goes too.

I'm reminded of the story of the servant of Elisha, when the city was surrounded by their enemies. The servant was afraid, because he didn't see how they were going to get out of this. Elisha tells him: Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them, at which point, the servants eyes were opened and he saw hosts of horses and chariots of fire.

Even though we may not see Him or His work in our lives, He is there, laboring beside us. It makes me want to work harder when I'm working with someone, because I don't want my lack of work to cause someone else more work. This is especially true of the Lord. He will never be the lazy one in a pair. He will never give up. He will always be there, helping us out, and working.

Let's go work with Him.