Charles on 190305

Reading from Luke 13 Isaiah 25, 26.

Scripture

Luke 13:6 - 9
6 And Jesus told them this parable--"A man, who had a fig tree growing
in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any.
7 So he said to his gardener 'Three years now I have come to look for
fruit on this fig tree, without finding any! Cut it down. Why should it
rob the soil?' 8 'Leave it this one year more, Sir,' the man answered,
'till I have dug round it and manured it. 9 Then, if it bears in
future, well and good; but if not, you can have it cut down.'"
Luke 13: 18 - 21
18 So Jesus said. "What is the Kingdom of God like? and to what can I
liken it? 19 It is like a mustard-seed which a man took and put in his
garden. The seed grew and became a tree, and 'the wild birds roosted in
its branches.'" 20 And again Jesus said. "To what can I liken the
Kingdom of God? 21 It is like some yeast which a woman took and
covered in three pecks of flour, until the whole had risen."

Observation

Jesus spoke about the the parable of the fig tree, but did not end with
a moral or concluding lesson - rather unusual for me as there's usually
a nice wrap up at the end where it is clear what the parable aims to
teach. As it hung in the back of my mind, another parable-like passage
came up a few verses down - Jesus describing the Kingdom of God with an
organic metaphor - yeast and mustard-seed. These metaphorical uses
spoke of potential.

I have heard many motivational speakers speak on the subject of
potential and the positive future. They have this to say, "You are not
your story yet". It is easy for us to look at our own lives, our
problems and the closing walls and allow them to implode and conclude
that that is all there is to our lives, story, or situation. The
Kingdom of God is a kingdom not bound by static circumstances but by
his perfect will. His perfect will is for our abundance and He has
already built it into our DNA to grow and flourish. This helps me
understand what the earlier parable is about. The fig tree represents
us who at some stage of our lives look barren and dry. The negatives
are quick to take it at face value and decide that it is taking up
space (aka good soil). However, those who have the Kingdom perspective
sees the vision of the potential within. It is interesting to note that
the gardener did not just speak up on his philosophical beliefs but
puts them to action. He makes a decision to give the tree a hand to
help it bear fruit.

Application
This passage is thick with many levels of wisdom. On one hand I can
appreciate the gratitude it brings me as I look back in my life when it
took me a while to bloom. There were people around me, believers of my
potential in Christ, who were patient with me and allowed me the space
and time to find my footing in life to become fruitful & abundant. In
fact, some of them did not get a chance to see me bear fruit and moved
on to where God has called them. God bless their souls and may our
paths cross again. My life is so filled with adventure and abundant
living because they never gave up on me and got down to my level to
give me the boost I need. Those days of "digging and manuring" must
have been quite an experience for them.

So what am I doing to plow into the lives of people? Have I made
conclusions about people and thus stifled their potential? This new
kingdom perspective ought to challenge me to live differently and seek
to use every moment I can to invest in the souls of men - one of the
two things that will last forever. One of my goals this year is in line
with this perspective and isn't it so divine that God is sealing it in
today!

Prayer
My Lord, how wise are you! You span time and space and you see the past
and future of our being. Thank you for imparting this wisdom today and
for sealing in the reason for the desires on my heart. Now I need to
get myself some tools to dig deep. So I am asking you to provide me
with the right tools to burrow into the hearts of men. Help me find the
grooves and quantize them according to your big picture, your kingdom
which I am constantly witnessing. Keep reminding me when I get
disappointed with people of why I am doing all this. For your kingdom's
sake and in your name I ask this. Amen!