Jesus talks of two situations where God’s people die—and asks the question, were these people worse sinners than others who dwelt in Jerusalem and then, He says, unless you repent you will also perish. (Luke 13:1-5)

We know this. We know we need to repent of our sins.

But right after that, Jesus talks about a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit.

It seems we are called to not only repent, but also to bear fruit.

The owner of the field was considering cutting down the fig tree that didn’t bear fruit, but his vineyard keeper suggested, first, digging up the ground around it and fertilizing it. (Luke 13:6-10)

Sometimes, in order for us to produce fruit in our lives, God may dig up the ground around us and separate us from the things we’ve been holding onto instead of Him.

He may even fertilize the ground around us with situations, so stinking hard, that it seems like we are sitting in a pile of manure.

The truth is, God will take us through whatever it takes to help us turn from our sins and live the lives we were intended, producing eternal fruit.

Sometimes, the digging up of our comfortable ground doesn’t feel good at all and the fertilizer of hard situations can really stink.

But when we yield to God’s work in our lives, when we allow Him to further examine our hearts and remove unholy things, we see God bring a harvest.

But also know this: God will not force us to cooperate. He didn’t create robots. He gave us all a free will.

We can choose to love, to follow, and to serve Him and produce fruit or we can go our own way.

But we need to be very careful because the thing is,” There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Prov 14:12)

In this parable of our Lord, the vineyard owner was patient, but there came a day when the tree had to bear fruit or would be cut down.

Charles Spurgeon said of this passage, “There is a time for felling fruitless trees, and there is an appointed season for hewing down and casting into the fire the useless sinner.”

We know our God is a patient God. He gives lots of second chances. But no one knows when the final chance will come.

We should all take a moment and ask God to examine our hearts. Have we turned from our sin and turned to Him? Is there fruit in our lives? Or are we still living only for ourselves?

Maybe we have sunk our roots into hard, infertile ground and God is breaking things up around us. Perhaps, the stinky situation we find ourselves in is really fertilizer to help us bear fruit that matters for eternity.

We were all created for a purpose…a glorious purpose! To love, serve and bear fruit that glorifies the One who loves us so very much!

May He have His way with us. May He break up the ground around us and may we bear much fruit to His glory.

whataSavior

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