LUKE 13:8–9 “And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”
KEYWORD: God created us, endowed us with gifts, and gave us His Word so that we may use all He has placed within us for His glory and for the impact of lives.
We often hear the word grace and wrongly assume it is a license to continue in wrongdoing while still expecting God’s mercy without responsibility. Over and over again, some take the patience of God for granted because they assume He will always overlook disobedience without consequence. But when a man continues knowingly in sin, he gradually numbs his conscience. And when the conscience becomes hardened, spiritual sensitivity is weakened. This is often the beginning of a dangerous drift away from divine direction.
When a believer’s conscience is no longer responsive, especially to the voice of God, it becomes difficult to discern the leading of the Holy Spirit and to clearly receive what God is saying. The result is spiritual insensitivity, which many times is not immediately recognized, yet it directly affects fruitfulness and purpose.
God created us, endowed us with gifts, and gave us His Word so that we may use all He has placed within us for His glory and for the impact of lives. But when we neglect spiritual growth and remain unyielded to His dealings, we hinder the manifestation of fruitfulness.
In the opening scripture, Jesus spoke of a fig tree that had remained unfruitful. The owner desired to cut it down, but the dresser pleaded for mercy and requested more time to cultivate it and give it another opportunity to bear fruit. That request was granted, but it came with expectation.
In the same way, many of us have been given seasons of grace. Seasons of correction, exposure to truth, encounters with the Word, and opportunities to serve in God’s house. Yet the question remains, what have we done with these opportunities? You may have been planted in a place where the Word of God is taught with sincerity, where prayer is alive, and where opportunities to serve and grow are available. But grace is not endless opportunity without accountability. It is time-bound mercy with expectation of fruitfulness.
God’s longsuffering is an expression of His mercy, but it carries an expectation of repentance, growth, and fruitfulness. Before this year runs out, your season of grace and divine opportunity is speaking. God knows what He expects from your life. Do not waste divine opportunity or take His patience for weakness. Respond to His dealings. Yield to His pruning and prompting. Be fruitful and always walk in His will for your life. Praise God!
PRAYER:
Father, help me to value the grace You have given me and never to take it for granted. Strengthen me by Your Word and by Your Spirit to be fruitful in my calling, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY:
LUKE 13:6–7 “He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none… cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?”
JEREMIAH 8:13 “I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.”
