Day 12- The Barren Fig Tree
Read it: Luke 13:1-9
Live it:
Floods in Texas, tornadoes in Kansas, pile-ups in the northern states, hikers dying from heat – surely all these people are worse sinners than I am! Surely everyone who dies an unnatural death must be a greater sinner than other people. But Jesus says this is not the case. Unless we repent, we, too, will be destroyed just like them.
Then, Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree. The fig tree is often used in the Old Testament for the nation of Israel (Joel 1:6-7). But Jesus focuses on the person, not the nation. The fig tree represents us, the garden of God. The owner of the orchard comes to see if any fruit is there. What fruit does your life produce?
We could run to Paul’s Letter to the Galatian churches and think about the Fruit of the Spirit. Are we producing love or joy? How is our self-control and faithfulness? We should examine our lives and know what fruit we are producing.
However, let’s not stop there. Fig trees produce fruit, but they also produce other fig trees! As Christians, are we producing other Christians? As a small group, are we producing other small groups? As a church, are we producing other churches? As a leader, are we producing other leaders?
Notice also that God is willing to give us time to come around! The owner gives the manager an opportunity to work with the tree by fertilizing and watering it. As long as we are not cut down, we have a chance to change! As long as we are not dead, we have a chance to change! We can forget about the past and make today different!
But how? Over and over, I have to remind myself that the only change I can make is right now. I can’t change a minute ago, or a minute from now. I can only control what I do at this very moment. The fact that you are reading this right now means that you chose to produce fruit today. What other moments will you change right now? Remember, you can only change now, and now, and now, and now.
May God find delicious fruit in your life!
Carl