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One More Year
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9 ESV)
Jesus tells this parable about a vineyard, a vinedresser, and the owner of the vineyard. It is a parable about time. Three years after the fig tree was planted it bears no fruit. The vineyard owner expects fruit. The fig tree has been taking up space in the vineyard but has produced no fruit. The owner of the vineyard tells the vinedresser to cut the fig tree down. The vinedresser intercedes. He requests that the vineyard owner give the tree one more year. The vinedresser tells the owner that he will dig around the tree and apply fertilizer. He says if the tree still bears not fruit after a year, then it can be cut down.
What kind of fig tree are you? The vineyard owner expects the fig tree to bear fruit. The vinedresser does everything he can for the fig tree to bear fruit. One more year if the tree does not bear fruit, then cut it down. How many “one more year” will God give his children. We celebrate that Christ will return as the righteous judge. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;” (Psalm 7:11-12 ESV) Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10 ESV)
January is the beginning of a New Year. Is 2025 the year our Lord will return as the righteous judge? We do not know the day or the hour. We do know that God want us to be ready. We are ready when we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are ready when we love our neighbor as ourselves. We are ready when we live lives or repentance.
Jesus has bore our sins on the cross. We are saved by grace to bear fruit in the vineyard. The question then is, are we bearing fruit or merely taking up space in the vineyard. God is the God of one more year. Jesus is the vinedresser. We are called by the Spirit and equipped with gifts to fulfill the purpose for which we have been called. We are called to bear fruit that befits repentance.
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:16-26 ESV)
May 2025 be the year when the vineyard owner finds good fruit.
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