Thoughts on bearing fruit

What a marvelous parable in the Gospel reading today! A man goes into the vineyard, he goes into that same vineyard for three years to look at the same fig tree, and it's bearing no fruit. He tells the gardener, “Cut it down. Get rid of this tree. It's not doing us any good.” And the gardener says, “Hey, let's give it one more shot. Let me pay it some attention; let me fertilize it; let me be sure it has water; let me take care of it. Let's see what happens, and if it's still not bearing any fruit, then you cut it down. What do you say?”

I suspect that there are people who look at you and look at me and say, “You know what? He or she—they’re just not getting it done when it comes to that faith thing. He tries to help a friend every now and then; she tries to be generous. He tries to pray and listen; she tries to be patient—but they just don't seem to make much progress. They're not bearing much fruit.”

But God looks at you and me and says, “Hey, I'm gonna give you another chance. Yeah, there’s still coming a day when I'm gonna cut down the fruitless trees, but I believe in you. I know you've got it in you to bear fruit because I put it there in the first place—the seeds of faith, the fruit of greatness are right there inside of you, so I'm gonna tend to you again. I'm gonna pay special attention to you and take care of you. I'm gonna help you bear fruit—I'm gonna help you find your greatness. Now is your time.”

That's because Jesus wants more for your life than you even want for yourself. When Jesus sees you not bearing fruit or headed in the wrong direction, he asks you, he invites you to stop and turn around—because that's what repent is. That's what repent means. It means a hundred-and-eighty-degree complete turnaround, a total new direction. Stop going one way—not make just a little course correction, but stop, and go the opposite way as fast as you can. That's what repent is.

Where do you need to turn around? What part of your life do you need to start a new direction in? Because now is your time to bear fruit. Your time is now.

Allen Hunt