And He Came Seeking Fruit

Luke 13:6-9 And He (Jesus) 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 the fig tree and 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.”

I once planted and tried to grow blueberry plants. I cultivated the ground, dug deep and loosened the soil so that the roots would have room to grow. I gave the plants plenty of water. But all my efforts were for naught. I left out one key element in my care for the blueberry plants. They need acidic soil, and we in Idaho have alkaline soil. It was something as simple as applying the correct material that would have made all the difference. Doh!

How many friends or acquaintances do you have who are not Christian? Is the number a few, or is that number many? In either case it really does not matter. They are numbered among those who are what we Christians call the lost. Interestingly enough they do not consider themselves to be lost. But they are not among those who are saved. They do not proclaim Christ as Lord in their lives. But what can be done to change their hearts and minds? You may have tried to gently nudge them to joining you at a worship service. You may have engaged them in conversation salting the words with Gospel. You may have suggested a good book to guide them. But your efforts may have all been for naught. They remain among the sheep who do not know their shepherd. It can bring on despair and doubt in your own faith. Fear not for God is in charge. He gives you one very mighty tool to bring to bear in cultivating those who need to bear fruit. This mighty gift is prayer. Why does it seem as if prayer is always a last resort? Maybe it is just me, but when prayer is left out as a first step things tend to not go well. I wish I could keep that more at the front end of my efforts instead of the reverse. I know I should pray about. How odd that I need to consider prayer to remember to pray first in all my endeavors. Do you suppose God is trying to drive home a lesson? Well, learn from my mistakes. Pray early, pray often. We can seek the blessing of the Lord on all of our efforts. For those efforts focused on returning the lost we can pray for the right words. In the Luke 13 passage above they are the fertilizer (manure) the vinedresser refers to. The digging around the plant could be considered our prayer to loosen up or soften the hearts of those we are ministering to. We seek the blessing of the Lord because we alone are assured of failing. But in God all things are possible. He can break through the wall of pain and distrust those we are praying for.

Prayer: Lord and Creator of all things, we seek Your blessings in all that we do in reaching out to those who do not call You Lord. Guide our efforts, give us Your words, soften the hearts of the lost and open the eyes of the blind. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.