I tell you what, Master, replied the gardener; Let it alone for just this one year more. I’ll dig all around it and put on some manure. Then, if it fruits next year, well and good; and if not, you can cut it down.
Luke 13:8-9
Jesus told the people a parable (story).
The soil in this area was very poor, but the fig tree was supposed to have a good chance of growing well and producing fruit within a three-year period. On visiting the fig tree after three years, the master noticed that it had not produced any fruit. He told the gardener that he should cut the tree down. The gardener asked that the tree be given another chance by letting him dig around the tree and fertilize it. Then if it did not produce any fruit after a year, he would cut the tree down.
In this parable Jesus was reminding the people they would be judged according to the opportunities they have had in their lives. If we refuse chance after chance in our lives, the day will come not when God has shut us out, but we by choice have shut ourselves out from God.
Priscilla Hardesty
