This parable in Luke 13 jarred me as I listened to it the other day:
Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit, and didn’t find any.
7 So he said to the gardener, “Look here! I’ve been coming to this fig tree for three years hoping to find some fruit, and I haven’t found any! Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”
8 ‘ “I tell you what, Master,” replied the gardener; “let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all round it and put on some manure. 9 Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.”
At first I asked myself if the point of the story is that if I didn’t shape up and start producing more, I was going to get dismissively “chopped down.” That didn’t seem right to me…. Jesus seems to be much more about mercy than judgement.
But then I realized that the whole parable is about mercy. It’s about second chances. It’s about how even though the Master in this story wants the tree chopped down, the gardener said “wait — give me more time.”
I also find it a bit humorous that the way that he plans to get the tree good enough to produce he has to cover it in crap. Ever feel like that part of the story is accurate in your life?
If you look around your life and you’re not seeing any figs, please realize this: there is a gardener who is on your side — who wants to work on you just a little bit more. Take comfort in this today…. recognizing that a year from now, the fruit you are going to bear because of the crap you’re covered in today will be amazing.
How’s that for a unique twist on the parable?
This parable n Luke 13 jarred me as I listened to it the other day:
Once upon a time there was a man who had a fig tree in his vineyard. He came to it looking for fruit, and didn’t find any.
7 So he said to the gardener, “Look here! I’ve been coming to this fig tree for three years hoping to find some fruit, and I haven’t found any! Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?”
8 ‘ “I tell you what, Master,” replied the gardener; “let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all round it and put on some manure. 9 Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.”
At first I asked myself if the point of the story is that if I didn’t shape up and start producing more, I was going to get dismissively “chopped down.” That didn’t seem right to me…. Jesus seems to be much more about mercy than judgement.
But then I realized that the whole parable is about mercy. It’s about second chances. It’s about how even though the Master in this story wants the tree chopped down, the gardener said “wait — give me more time.”
I also find it a bit humorous that the way that he plans to get the tree good enough to produce he has to cover it in crap. Ever feel like that part of the story is accurate in your life?
If you look around your life and you’re not seeing any figs, please realize this: there is a gardener who is on your side — who wants to work on you just a little bit more. Take comfort in this today…. recognizing that a year from now, the fruit you are going to bear because of the crap you’re covered in today will be amazing.
How’s that for a unique twist on the parable?
https://youtu.be/m84URv4Sgxc
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