DISCLAIMER: many of these ideas have been stolen from my awesome friends. Shoutout to Ignite and Discipleship Training!
Get out your Bibles and give Luke 13:6-9 a read.
So what we have here is the parable of the fig tree. A person owns a fig tree and is frustrated that it has not bore fruit even after three years. The gardener tells him to wait another year to let him cultivate the ground and fertilize it. The owner is given the hope that it may bear fruit in the future.
There are a few characters in this parable. There’s the owner, the gardener, the tree, the soil, and the fertilizer. Let’s dive deeper into each one.
First, we have the owner. When I placed myself into the shoes of the owner, I immediately was reminded of my own struggles with patience. It’s really difficult for me to remember that it takes time for fruit to grow.
Where is the fruit in my studies? Where is the fruit in my relationships? Where is the fruit in my prayer?
This is when we must remember to rely on the gardener. This is where I see God the most in this parable as He invites us to allow Him to work on us. Again, it’s important to realize how necessary patience is for this. It’s difficult for me to let go of control, but I’m reminded that we must place our trust in God.
We say it all the time. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.”
God wants to work on us, and He gives us exactly what we need. When we need it. And it’s all his.
The owner doesn’t quite understand why the tree isn’t bearing fruit, but the gardener believes that it simply needs more time and grace. We can place ourselves in the role of the tree as well. As trees, we must let God’s grace and mercy water us so that we can eventually produce his fruit. He gives each of us our own fruit to bear. Our own passions. Our own strengths. We must come to recognize what those are and use them to do his will.
But we don’t have to do this alone! Remember that God will cultivate the ground around us trees. This soil is the people that God has placed in our lives. Each of the relationships that we have help to shape who we are. Both good relationships and bad relationships help us grow and learn.
Not only do we have people acting as soil for us, but we are also called to be soil for others. We must let God work through us to bear our own fruit, but we must also support others and help others see the fruit that they can bear.
Often it feels as if only my shortcomings are recognized. It’s hard for me to see the good that I have done when it feels like I’m constantly pushed down. I’m always being told and telling myself to get to work. But this is why we must be affirming of others and let others know that graces are working, not necessarily to get to work all the time.
I encourage you to be mindful of the soil in your lives and how you can be soil for others. And remember that we’ve got one more character in this parable. God is not only cultivating the ground, but He is also fertilizing it with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
God is working on us and through us.
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