He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.”
Memory verse: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Mathew 7:19
One of the many reasons why I love studying the bible is that it drives my imaginations. Jesus told lots and lots of stories during His time on earth as a way of making the minds of the hearers wonder. He challenges our imaginations through the way He speaks, placing us in a position to keep thinking what those parables He spoke in really meant. Even His disciples could not really explain most of those parables until Jesus explained to them. They frequently asked Him lot and lots of question about what those parables meant and they continued to walk and work with Him with faith and patience. More interestingly, His prarables brings a lot of things to live, they have a way of making situations clearer.
A while ago I was having a conversation with a sister and I voiced out one thing the Holyspirit laid on my heart which was “people can just be a part of the numbers”. Let me explain a bit more, you know when you have a party and have a guest of let’s say 500 people, there are some who are special guests and others just tag along with the person invited. Many lives populate the earth with God given capability and purpose but with no intention of making an impact and today’s bible verse confirms this.
Today we see the parable of a fig tree planted by a man who owns his vineyard. A few things to know about fig trees being used in this parable is that fig trees can be planted everywhere. Although it thrives best in warm environments, it can also be planted in a cold environment which if properly insulated and kept from the cold will likewise thrive.
There are variations of figs, some which bear edible fruits and some that do not produce edible fruits. Everything about a fig tree can be used, the fruit and leafs. Bible scholars believes the fig tree may have been the tree of the knowledge of good and evil men were forbidden to eat Genesis 2:17. As soon as their eyes were open they sew fig leaves together to make covering Genesis 3:7. Research shows that the fruits can be eaten fresh, brewed as an alcoholic beverage or used as a laxative and dried in confectionery. It has been said to be a good source of calcium, sugar, iron, copper, carbohydrates, potassium, and vitamin A. It only gets better as the a fig tree may produce not one but two crop per year as it has a fruiting cycle of 150 -200 days per year with its tree known to live for as long as 200years.
With the brief understanding of a fig tree we see that a fig tree in the garden should be all shades of usefulness to the owner. Now we see that this vineyard owner had been patient. He planted a fig, employed a keeper of the vineyard and paid for fertilizer all for this fig tree and in three years, precisely 1095 days, a tree which should produce fruit in 150 to 200 days was yet to produce any fruit, making it what people will generally refer to as a “waste of space”.
One of the most common attribute of everything created by God is its fruitfulness Genesis 1:22 and man was not exempted from this. In fact when God created man, He blessed man specially not just with fruitfulness but with the power of dominion Genesis 1: 28. The owner of that vineyard in the bible can be likened to God who carefully prepared the world, created man and blessed man. When you read Genesis 2:7, you will see that God had to breathe into man to make him a living thing and unlike every other thing He spent time creating, His approach of bringing man to life was different so therefore He had invested into every man created on this earth with an expectation of fruitfulness.
God becomes disappointed in us when we decided to become unproductive. There is an expected time when you should start producing fruit and we see that Christ is constantly pleading with the father on our behalf for just a little more time but whiles God is merciful and gives us another time to repent from our unproductive lives, there are limits to how long He will be patient with our lack of productivity.
We live a borrowed time here on earth and from today’s bible reading we see that it is possible for man to live a totally unproductive life while on earth from time of birth to death but the question is “are you just using up space”?
There are various lessons to be learnt from today’s parable but one of great importance is that nothing on earth is permanent and whiles we have an advocate 1 John 2:1, we cannot continue to take it for granted. Every life on earth that does not produce fruit for the father whose name is not found in the book of life on the day of judgment will be cast into the lake of fire Revelation 20:15.
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for another wonderful week just concluding
- Help me to find my purpose in life and walk in it through to fulfillment
- Empower me not to just occupy space but to be like that tree planted by the rivers of water which yield fruits in its seasons
- I receive the God give empowerment to live a purpose driven and purpose filled life
- Every unfruitfulness in me is banished from today, I decree that I am fruitful in Jesus Name
- Forgive me of all my shortcomings O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
