Well, my wife and I came across it in our devotion time last night. Here it is:
Luke 13:6-9 (NIV)
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Now, once we had read this, my wife said "It seems like there should be more." I answered, "Yeah, I know, it doesn't tell what happened the following year!"
We began to discuss the parable and decided that the owner of the vineyard was God and the caretaker was Jesus. We as humans are represented by the fig tree. God watches us to see if we are bearing good fruit and when we don't, he passes judgment on us. This is when Jesus steps in, interceding for us, and asks for grace and mercy for us. He tells His Father that we may not be a total loss, and asks for more time to work on us to help us become productive members of the Body of Christ. If we choose to give our lives to Him and serve Him faithfully we are rewarded with eternal life. However, at the end of our "year" (i.e. our lifetime), if we have failed to accept the gift Jesus offers, we are cut down and cast into the eternal fires of Hell.
Now, the reason there is no ending to this parable is because each one of us contains an ending to it. Every day we are writing the ending on the pages of our lives! I imagine God having a book with this parable on the cover, and everyone of us has a page that is being written as we live. When we reach the end of our lives and God puts the final period on the last sentence, the ending will be clear. It is up to us and nobody else what that ending is in our own lives! Will God find fruit on us when He comes back to look?
How will the parable end for you?
What a lovely picture. I think you have the answer to the parable. The Bible says in Jonh 15:5-8 that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. That's where my hope lies.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy! I also like Matthew 7:16 "By their fruit you will recognize them." I am always encouraged when someone recognizes me as a Christian without being told! I helped a lady air up her tire at the gas station the other day and as she was thanking me she said, "I bet you're a Christian aren't you."
ReplyDeleteBy the way, that picture is from a site with another interpretation of this same parable. If you click the picture it will take you to it.
I enjoyed studying that parable with you, & I feel that I did learn from it. Since you wrote a Blog about it then I imagine that it must have really impressed you!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
Thank you my darling! :) I have learned a lot by looking at the Word through your eyes. I love hearing your view of things!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Yes, I am very different! I'm glad that you appreciate it & understand it instead of thinking that I am completely bonkers! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt has been fun studying the Bible together & learning from each other. I'm glad we are going to continue until we have covered the whole Bible & maybe even start it again!
I love you!!
We're both just a little bonkers you know. I mean, we live in the same house but we're having a conversation in comments to this blog post! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to learning from you for the rest of my life! :)
I LOVE YOU!!!!!!
Oh, I love this post today and did not even remember that one. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patty Ann, for stopping by! I'm glad you enjoyed this post, it was something that really got me thinking and I just thought I'd share it! :)
ReplyDelete