"Remembrance of Jacob"

Read Hosea 10:12

On the way from Akko to Caesarea Maritime we passed through the small city of Yokne’am. This is Hebrew for “Remembrance of Jacob”. In the 1880’s, the wealthy French banker Baron Rothschild began donating money to projects in Israel. Among these projects was the development south of Mount Carmel of land for Jewish immigrants. Rothschild donated money, sent grape varietals from France, built a wine bottling plant and provided cash and technology to dig wells in the then barren land for irrigation of vineyards. This same area had swampy land that was drained for cultivation. This particular endeavor has resulted in the most prestigious vineyards in Israel. Apparently more wine is produced and exported from this area than any other area in Israel.

Baron Rothschild named the town after his son Jacob or Ya’kov. Therefore Yokne’am: remembrance of Jacob.

This uncultivated, swampy land that, with attention, became a grape and wine region, named as a memorial to a son, has now become immensely productive. That is my life: barren, and sometimes swampy land, originally, attended to by my Father… and by Faith, I declare, it will bear immensely productive fruit. I too have been made a remembrance to the Father according to Isaiah 56; I have been written in the palm of His hand as a memorial.

Just a thought: what condition is the soil of your life?

Father, dig, drain, build…just do what You have to do to make me fruitful like your Son.