Mark 12:1
"And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country."
In the verse above, Jesus taught a parable about a man who planted a vineyard. There were many things this man did in planting a successful vineyard, but there were also some things this man did that hurt it. The desire of this man was that his vineyard would be able to produce grapes and juice for many people.
Every person is building a vineyard. Your vineyard could be a home, marriage, life, business or even a church. Your preparations for building your vineyard are very important to its success. There are some definite things in this parable that you can learn that will help you in building a successful vineyard.
First, you must find a place to plant your vineyard. If your vineyard is your home, make sure you live in a place where your family can have the best influences. You need to have a place where there is a good church that has a pastor who preaches the truths of the Word of God. You want a church where your children are going to have good friends.
Second, building a vineyard takes hard work. The man didn't let others build his vineyard, but he took personal responsibility to build his own vineyard. You will never have a successful home without investing your time. If you want your home to be what it ought to be, then you are going to have to be personally involved in building it.
Third, a vineyard must have a hedge about it. The hedge protected the vineyard from outside animals that would come in and destroy it. Every home must have rules to protect it from sin. I know people don't like to talk about rules, but you must have rules if you are going to build a successful home.
Fourth, a vineyard requires time. The place dug for wine fat was a place where the grapes were pressed. No family will be successful without spending time together. You must have time together for pleasure, but you must also have time together to work. You need time together to be spiritual, and you need time, personal time, together with each individual of the family. Time is an important component of any home.
Fifth, a vineyard must have a tower to warn of future danger. The watchman would go into the tower to see impending dangers that would come. Every man needs to get into the tower and see the dangers that will come and destroy their family. It may be that the home allows the pastor to tell them what will hurt them; however, every parent is accountable to be aware of outside things that will hurt their family.
Finally, be careful about the influences you let into your vineyard. The one mistake this man made was he hired the wrong husbandman. Let me caution you about the influences you allow in your home. The people you are around can destroy your home. The programs you watch can destroy your home. Be very careful about each influence in your home.
Building a successful home will not be easy. Let me encourage you to strive to have each of these things in your home. You will find that these things will help you in building a successful home.