Are You Bearing Fruit?

Scripture Reading

Luke 13:6-9

6 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. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! 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?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

Devotional

This parable is a powerful one. Here we see God is looking at a person like you and me (the tree) and is expecting to see signs of spiritual growth as the Holy Spirit transforms us (our fruit). If a tree is recognized by its fruit, then a follower of God should also show bear signs of belonging to him. The fruit of Holy Spirit is discussed in Galatians 22:23, which reads:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

So in other words, if you are a follower of God, the expectation is that you should be showing the qualities mentioned above. Thankfully the expectation is not for us to be perfect, but for us to be continually transformed by the Holy Spirit. Like a tree, we continue to grow - spiritually bearing more and more of these qualities and to a greater degree.

Now what does a barren tree represent? A spiritual deadness needing revival. When the pandemic hit in 2020, many people couldn’t go to church any longer, they stopped fellowshipping with others, became increasingly isolated, and this lack of togetherness stunted the spiritual growth of many believers. In order for a tree to grow it needs good soil, water, sunlight, and maybe even some pruning. In the same way, in order for you and me to grow spiritually, we need to be in God’s Word, spend time with other believers, and be doers of the Word.

Another example of being spiritually barren would be if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, so you’re saved, but you never quite become a disciple taking that next step to grow your relationship with God and ask him how he wants to use you as a part of his plan.

If you fall into either one of those categories, please know that this is not a judgement, and that this scripture today should be an encouragement because God has not given up on you. In fact, he wants to give you another chance. I would even go as far as to say that he’s calling you to him right now saying “Come on kid, I want you to grow. I have plans for you. When are you going to follow me?” God even shows us that he’s investing in us, giving us circumstances to grow and be made alive again. Are you ready to accept his call? It took God three years of calling me to write devotionals and I avoided that calling for all three years before it dawned on me that it’s not about me and whether or not I think I’m qualified to write devotionals. If God called me, then I’m going to trust him and walk in faith. It’s never too late to accept his call in your life. Today is another opportunity to say yes to him and start bearing some fruit. Let’s pray.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for the reminder today that you want us to grow in our relationship with you and to let the Holy Spirit transform us. Thank you for another day and opportunity for us to follow you and accept your calling for our lives. Lord, I ask that if you haven’t made your calling known to me yet that you would do so. I want to be a tree that bears as much fruit as possible for your kingdom. Amen.