OUR RESPONSIBILITY...to bare fruit
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
Luke 13:6-8 Jesus told a parable about a barren fig tree, and the process that went on after the owner had come to it for three years, and found that it had not borne any fruit at all. In this we see several things. 1. God expects us to grow and mature to the point of being useful and active members of the Kingdom of Heaven. 2. God's mercy and patience will run out on those who refuse to grow and produce Spiritual fruit. 3. God will not cause us to bear fruit in our Christian lives without our having a close and productive relationship with Him.
God expects us to grow not just get older. It is evident that the tree had every advantage it could have to not only grow up unharmed, but to bare good fruit. Everything within a vineyard is placed very carefully so as to not be disturbed by any other plant or person other than the ones assigned to til water and care for the plant. We actually have attendants as well within the church who are assigned to care for us spiritually. While we must have people who take that responsibility seriously by giving us what we need to grow and develop the actual fruit comes from our lives as we inner react in our relationship with God and one another. It isn't just being willing to be used of God, but also placing our lives into situations where we can be used effectively. We will never be used in trying to help the sick and afflicted unless we place ourselves where we are in contact with the sick and afflicted.
God has a grace period for our lives to be used before we get written off as a dead branch which will never bare fruit. It is hard for many people to understand this truth because we have never been taught this within the church. We can easily see time after time the warning that Jesus has given to those within the church who become by-standers to the Christian experience. We are the ones who have made a covenant with God to love Him with all of our heart mind and soul, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Don't you think that becomes a very distasteful lie when we refuse to go through with it? There is a point when lip service will no longer suffice in God's eyes. The world has gotten to the place where it will no longer take our word that we love them through Christ. They will no longer listen to us when we say we love love if they can see no examples of our inner reaction with God...and how can they ever think that we are truthful when we tell them that God loves them?
God will not force us to bare fruit because that is a bi-product of our relationship with Him that will only come the more we actually get involved with God. Sometimes I think about the picture of that rose which grew up through the crack in concrete. The soil had to be right and the space had to be there, but the plant itself had to find it's way through the adversity before it could bloom, There is a way that we can reach the true light that we need to bring forth fruit in our lives as well, but there may be some real effort made before God will honor our life with a flower. There is much of who we are in Christ that is left to our own effort to seek after God...I just pray that we can begin to see our role in that. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Luke 13:6-8 Jesus told a parable about a barren fig tree, and the process that went on after the owner had come to it for three years, and found that it had not borne any fruit at all. In this we see several things. 1. God expects us to grow and mature to the point of being useful and active members of the Kingdom of Heaven. 2. God's mercy and patience will run out on those who refuse to grow and produce Spiritual fruit. 3. God will not cause us to bear fruit in our Christian lives without our having a close and productive relationship with Him.
God expects us to grow not just get older. It is evident that the tree had every advantage it could have to not only grow up unharmed, but to bare good fruit. Everything within a vineyard is placed very carefully so as to not be disturbed by any other plant or person other than the ones assigned to til water and care for the plant. We actually have attendants as well within the church who are assigned to care for us spiritually. While we must have people who take that responsibility seriously by giving us what we need to grow and develop the actual fruit comes from our lives as we inner react in our relationship with God and one another. It isn't just being willing to be used of God, but also placing our lives into situations where we can be used effectively. We will never be used in trying to help the sick and afflicted unless we place ourselves where we are in contact with the sick and afflicted.
God has a grace period for our lives to be used before we get written off as a dead branch which will never bare fruit. It is hard for many people to understand this truth because we have never been taught this within the church. We can easily see time after time the warning that Jesus has given to those within the church who become by-standers to the Christian experience. We are the ones who have made a covenant with God to love Him with all of our heart mind and soul, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Don't you think that becomes a very distasteful lie when we refuse to go through with it? There is a point when lip service will no longer suffice in God's eyes. The world has gotten to the place where it will no longer take our word that we love them through Christ. They will no longer listen to us when we say we love love if they can see no examples of our inner reaction with God...and how can they ever think that we are truthful when we tell them that God loves them?
God will not force us to bare fruit because that is a bi-product of our relationship with Him that will only come the more we actually get involved with God. Sometimes I think about the picture of that rose which grew up through the crack in concrete. The soil had to be right and the space had to be there, but the plant itself had to find it's way through the adversity before it could bloom, There is a way that we can reach the true light that we need to bring forth fruit in our lives as well, but there may be some real effort made before God will honor our life with a flower. There is much of who we are in Christ that is left to our own effort to seek after God...I just pray that we can begin to see our role in that. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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