Luke 13:1-9

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

”‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Jesus tells the people that those who died in the tragedies were to serve as warnings to show the uncertainty of life and that they need to repent quickly. It is not a smart idea to wait. He then goes on to tell them a parable of the grace of GOD and the role of the Son as the Advocate (1 Jn 2:1). The Father is the vineyard Owner and The Son is the One who asks to have one more year of care before cutting the tree down.

This means GOD does have a lot of grace for me, but my time to decide to follow Him wholeheartedly is not unlimited. There will come a day when I will be cut down if I have not borne any fruit. Simply being a tree in the Kingdom of GOD is not sufficient. I must bear fruit or be cut down. Jesus is doing the hard work of tending to me as a tree. I must accept the nutrients He is giving me though in order to bear fruit. How do I do that? His Word is the source of these spiritual nutrients. I therefore must be in His Word every day so I can drink in what He wants me to learn so that I can in turn bear fruit for His Kingdom and His glory.

GOD of all glory I praise You. Your patience and grace are unfathomable. Thank You for being so patient and gracious. Please forgive me when I am not in Your Word as often as I should be. Please give me a deep hunger for Your Word that cannot be quenched so that I can't sleep each day without reading Your Word. I cannot give myself this hunger so I ask You to instill it in me. Please help me also to be able to understand and digest Your Word. Holy Spirit please grant me Your wisdom to be able to understand the Word. By my own mental abilities I could never be able truly to understand Your Word. So I beg You to help me. I surrender to You. Please forgive my arrogance when I think I can do it on my own or when You teach me something and I act as though I did it myself. Have mercy on me. Thank You for hearing my prayer. All honor and glory be Yours forever.

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