Parable of the Fig Tree: The Mercy of Change

“And He began telling this parable: "A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?' And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"”         Luke 13:6-9 NASB

If you're just joining us, here are the links to the previous posts in the series: The Fig Tree With No Fruit, Living Like a Barren Fig Tree, Cut It Down, Removing the Cancer of Hidden Sin, The Cost of Hidden Sin, and Why Does It Use Up Ground, as well as links to other "fig tree" posts: The Come Back Tree, The Lesson of the Fig Tree (One of my fav's), and My Daily Fig. (They'll open in a new tab)

We come now to the words of mercy in this passage. "Let it alone, sir, for this year, too..." The vineyard-keeper knew there was no fruit on the tree, but he was not willing to give up on it. Judgment hung over the tree, but mercy was requested. 

When the vineyard-keeper requested more time, he also announced his intent to take positive action. He would help the tree do what fig trees are supposed to do. He would fertilize it, dig around it, and loosen the soil around the roots.  The fertilizing and digging and loosening would all be done with an end goal in mind. There would be only one objective: FIGS.

Even when judgment was warranted, mercy was uppermost in the vineyard-keeper's mind. 

There's no doubt we, as a nation and as the church, deserve the judgment of God. His people have become so much like the world that we are often indistinguishable. Perhaps mercy has been given. Perhaps we have another chance, but that chance will not come without action from the One who lavishes His care on us. Fertilizer application and digging at the foundations are smelly, unsettling work. They bring change. 

God's work of redemption, His work of one-more-chance, will not leave us as we are. It may be smelly and unsettling. It may not come the way we would choose. 

We may not like the mercy of change offered, but we desperately need it. 

We need to be so unsettled that we fall to our faces and worship the One who created and sustains us. We need to be so disrupted that we take our eyes off that which tantalizes us and turn our faces to the God who loves us. We need to be so changed that our steps follow Christ without wavering.

There was no need for the tree to fear the care the vineyard-keeper planned, for it's only objective was productivity in order to avoid the ax of judgment. 

In that same way, there is no need to fear the mercy of change our Lord offers, for it, too, has productivity in mind. It, too, is given in order to avoid the ax of judgment.

If change is to come, and it is, let us embrace what God brings our way. Let us embrace and change, no matter how hard, with only one objective in mind. Bearing fruit. 

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 NASB

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Our Father, forgive us for our wrong priorities. Forgive us for chasing after our own goals. Help us to chase after You, to cling to Your ways, to strive to bear fruit for You. Make us what You meant us to be. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Mercy #Parableofthefigtree #disciple #JesusChrist #Bible 

The Difference Between the Crowd and the Disciples

“Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."”       Luke 13:1-5 NASB

I intended to move to the next bit of Scripture today, but the difference between the disciples and the crowd has concerned me lately, so we're tapping this passage one more time.

The word "disciple" comes from a root word meaning "to take". The disciple, then, is one who takes the doctrines and teachings of another and makes them their own. Scripture describes multiple "disciples". First,there were the 12 called disciples (eventually known as Apostles). Jesus also sent 70 followers (or disciples) to teach His gospel. Anyone who followed Jesus during His lifetime was a disciple, and any person who follows Jesus today is also a disciple. That's a lot of disciples, isn't it?

There is, however, a marked difference between a disciple and a member of the crowd. A "crowd" is simply a large number of persons gathered closely together. 

Being a member of the crowd means I am in attendance. It does not mean that I am a disciple.

Please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, because I know many disciples at my church, and I'm sure you know disciples at your church. With that said, it's important to understand that our churches are filled with "the crowd", people who have gathered together. It is not likely a crowd of disciples, because we should have seekers who have come to learn more about the Christ we have demonstrated to them, people who aren't disciples yet. That's a very good thing.

The problem comes when the crowd looks just like the disciples and the disciples act just like the crowd. 

Why is that a problem? If the supposed disciples act exactly like the crowd acts, maybe the supposed disciples are actually just part of the crowd. Does that make sense to you?

Being a disciple of Jesus, by definition, means that I am a pupil, taking the teachings of Jesus and incorporating them into my life. Incorporating His way should make me different, not leave me the same.

I'm a disciple, and often a poor one. I'm very familiar with the apostle Paul's difficulty, for it is my own. Perhaps you've experienced this, too. 

“I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”

Romans 7:21-23 NASB

The war against sin in our lives is very real, and often a minute-by-minute battle. My sin may not be as obvious as it once was, but it is still as deadly. 

A judgmental, critical spirit may hide behind a big smile and polite words, but it is still sin.

What, then, can we do? How can a disciple be different from the crowd?

“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”  Romans 8:10 NASB

If we allow it, the Spirit of God will work in us to convict us of sin and draw us toward righteousness. 

We can be better than we are, if we are willing to change. 

I read those words and know they are true. Equally true is that I can be better than I am, but not if I choose to stay the same. Therein is the problem, isn't it? I like "same". I like my comfortable life, my way of spending, my way of doing. Change means my comfort, spending, doing must be different. 

I resist the change. We all do.

Am I willing to give all, as Jesus did, to save the perishing? Apparently not, because I haven't given all. Thanks be to God, the life of a disciple is one of lifelong learning, lifelong striving, lifelong becoming. 

Although I am not what I want to be as a disciple, I rejoice that I am no longer what I used to be as part of the crowd. I'm farther along the path toward Christlikeness than I once was. 

The first step in being a disciple is recognizing we are one of the crowd. If we find ourselves in the crowd, let's take a step forward. Move out of the crowd and into the life of a disciple. Become what God intended us to be. Allow the Holy Spirit to change us, mold us into the image of our Lord Jesus. 

If we are a disciple, let's take a step closer to Christ and become more like Him. Let's be the people He meant us to be.

Change is rarely comfortable and often difficult. Change that makes us more like Christ, however, is always worth it.

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Our Father, forgive us for our stubborn refusal to be all You called us to be. Convict us of our sin and help us to become the disciples You intended us to be.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

#disciple #JesusChrist #theBible #change #idontwanttochange #oneofthecrowd #Holy Spirit

One in a crowd (Luke 5:2,3)

and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat. (Luke 5:2, 3 NASB)

Little Jewish boys in the first century started their education in the local synagogue. Those who were the brightest and best stayed in school and eventually became rabbis or scribes, Pharisees or Saducees. They were the religious scholars of the day. Those who were not "top of the class" eventually left school to become tradesmen. Peter had left to become a fisherman. He may have always wanted to fish, and it may have fulfilled a lifetime dream, but on the days when he worked as hard as he could, casting the net for hours without a single fish, it probably looked less appealing. He may have wished he'd stayed in school. Maybe he wished for a change. You may say that is just "thinkology" but events in a few verses will show that he quickly embraced change when the opportunity arose. 

Perhaps there was something in the way he was cleaning his nets that suggested to Jesus that Peter might be ready for something else. Regardless, there were two boats and two sets of fishermen, but the fisherman He addressed that day was Peter. 

Peter was not just a stinky fisherman and he was not just one of a crowd to Jesus. Our Lord saw him as one IN a crowd. He saw Peter as an individual and spoke directly to him.  This tired, dirty, smelly, frustrated man was not too tired, dirty, smelly, or frustrated for Jesus. What good news that is for us! No matter our current condition, we are not too terrible for Jesus. He can change everything in a moment, if we are willing. 

Today, pray that Jesus will look past our personal heart condition to see the person He intended us to become and that He will move in us to make us more like Him. Pray, too for our loved ones to be so weary in their wandering that they are ready to be found. May the call of Jesus come quickly and the response be prompt. 

A Demon Comes to Church, part 3

And he cried out with a loud voice, "Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!" (Luke 4:33, 34 NASB)

There are many things I would expect a demon-possessed man to shout, but this is a little surprising. When the man shouted, "Let us alone!" he was probably not speaking of the crowd in the synagogue. "Us" implies the man and his demon. He recognized himself as separate yet intertwined with the demon, but he is not asking to be freed. He is asking to stay in bondage. There are those who would say that "the devil made him do it," and there may be truth in that. Regardless, however this demonic force first entered his life, he was not seeking release. 

That's not an uncommon reaction when the subject of life-altering change is broached. People with addictions frequently say, "I can't" when asked about giving up their addiction. Life without whatever it is on which they depend, whether a physical addiction or a spiritual oppression or possession, seems impossible to achieve, much less to maintain. 

People who live their lives separate from Christ cannot begin to imagine the life Christ would bring. They are often comfortable in their routines and have succeeded in the world's eyes to a degree that makes change seem both unnecessary and unwanted. Children who renounce their faith for one reason or another often do not see a need to return. 

Even without seeing a need for change, without wanting change, this man had a divine appointment for which he was in attendance. His life was about to change in a remarkable way. Imagine that! He was not seeking Jesus but Jesus was seeking him. 

I like the idea of an appointment with God, and I have a standing appointment with Him every day. It's life-changing. Perhaps a divine appointment is what our loved ones need. Pray today that our Seeking and Saving Lord will arrange a "divine appointment" and draw our loved ones to a life-changing encounter with Him.  

The Flabbergasted Heart

And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. (Luke 4:31, 32 NASB)

The word that is translated "amazed" is ekplēssō, which means (according to blueletterbible.org) "1)to cast off by a blow, to drive out

2)commonly, to strike one out of self-possession, to strike with panic, shock, astonish

3)to be struck with amazement, astonished, amazed"

You don't quite get the idea from that very overused word "amazed", but when Jesus taught in  Capernaum, the people responded in a totally different way than in Nazareth. In Capernaum, Jesus's teaching hit them like a blow and left them reeling. It knocked them out of their self-possession  and not only made them think but brought lasting change. 

What a great way to receive the Word! When was the last time you heard the truth of Scripture in such a way that it totally flabbergasted you and left you speechless with the profundity of it? When did you last allow God's Word to bring lasting change in your life?

Today, pray that we and our loved ones will hear God's Word with ekplēssō and that we will be struck to the core of our being with truth that brings lasting change and makes us more like Jesus. 

The heart revealed

and they rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way. (Luke 4:29, 30 NASB)

We saw the angry crowd yesterday, but here we see their anger progressing to murderous rage. What is amazing to me is that they were in church when their anger progressed to murderous rage!! You may remember that the synagogue was a local gathering place where the men met to pray corporately and study the Scripture. It's hard to imagine taking that step toward murder while praying or studying Scripture, but that's how it happened. They clearly didn't have their minds focused on the business at hand!

The men chased Jesus out of the city and to the edge of a hill, planning to shove Him down. With all the pushing and shoving, Jesus managed to quietly move through their midst and walk away. He was right from the beginning. No miracles would happen in Nazareth.

The people in the synagogue looked like they belonged there. They had done everything that outwardly indicated they were godly. They were in the synagogue at the appropriate time and they participated in prayer and studying the Scripture just as if they meant it. Their hearts, however, were not fixed on God at all. When Jesus confronted them, they quickly revealed their hearts that were full of pride, greed, anger, and murder. Yuck. What an ungodly mess!

The question for us is what would our hearts reveal if Jesus confronted us in church today? Are our hearts focused on Christ or our own desires? Do we listen to the Scripture and teaching or just sit quietly while we compose to-do lists in our heads?

Pray today that we and our loved ones would see our hearts the way Jesus sees them and that it would trigger a desire to change.