The Lord of the vineyard had preserved

…and they did keep the root and the top thereof equal, according to the strength thereof.  And thus they labored, with all diligence, according to the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard, even until the bad had been cast away out of the vineyard, and the Lord had preserved unto himself that the trees had become again the natural fruit; and they became like unto one body; and the fruits were equal; and the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself the natural fruit, which was most precious unto him from the beginning. (Jacob 5:73-74)

When I was reading this verse, I noticed that the final results of grafting in the natural branches to the tree are listed, and we can learn some good things from this list.

the trees had become again the natural fruit -  This is kind of an awkward phrase, but we know what it means.  It expresses a transformation of character, that the good works we do will become an inseparable part of our identity.

they became like unto one body – This expresses how we will become unified with each other through the Spirit.  This is quite amazing, considering how congregations are all over the world.

the fruits thereof were equal – This gives us a vision of how the Lord sees our honest efforts, no matter what calling we have.

the root and the top kept equal, according to the strength thereof – We could look at this like a genealogical tree, where all the generations are kept equal with each other.  Or we could look at this like a church hierarchy where all the callings are kept equal.

I love the repetition of the phrase “the Lord of the vineyard had preserved unto himself” as it is applied to both the trees and the fruit.  That word “preserved” makes me think of salvation and how the Lord is concerned about us as individuals and about our works.