Those who invest in stocks are often advised to hold out for long-term gains and not worry about intermittent losses. Patience and a sharp intuition are critical to success when taking financial risks. However if your stock-broker continually bets wrongly and causes you to loose money, you have to cut him off and move on, no matter how knowledgeable and smart he is. He may be a likeable fellow, but he is not yielding returns on your life investments. He is not productive.
Likewise, as demonstrated in several gospel parables of kings and business owners giving their servants talents and money to trade with before leaving town, God expects returns on the sacrifice of His Son. All those who have claimed their redemption from eternal judgment because of Calvary are expected to respond to that ultimate act of love and mercy.
In the parable of the fig tree in the vineyard, (Lk. 13:6-9, see below), Jesus explains God’s patience with a tree that does not bear fruit, coming year after year, giving it multiple chances. We who have been redeemed are also given many years and multiple opportunities to bear fruit for God. At some point, on a set day for each person, God’s patience will run out. We might be lucky to have intercessors who will beg God for reprieve on our behalf, like the vineyard dresser did for the fig-tree, but that reprieve will also be for a limited time.
To whom much is given, much is expected, said Jesus. God will not forever tolerate our lack of productivity for His Kingdom. He put His Son through an undeserved ordeal for us and has blessed us with many special favors. We are given multiple opportunities everyday in our ordinary circumstances of life, in our families, at work, to respond to God’s blessings. God actually watches us to see how we respond to those opportunities. We may fall and fail several times, and His patience is long-suffering, but we do well to be laser-focused on the fact that God is counting on us to be productive.
And how do we bear fruits? We can’t all be preachers or ministers but acts and gestures of charity, done for God’s sake are within everybody’s reach. Whatever we do to others on His behalf is taken as done to Him, and counted in our favor. May the Holy Spirit open our eyes to opportunites to bear fruit in every situation we find ourselves in. Amen.
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree – Luke 13:6-9
6 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. 7 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 [a]use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 [b]And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 