MIND CONTROL 67: What Kind Of Tree Are You?

Image via Wikipedia

This is another parable that Jesus told explaining the concept of life:

Luke 13:6-9
6 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.
7 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 HAVENT FOUND ANY. CUT IT DOWN! WHY SHOULD IT USE UP THE SOIL?’
8 “‘SIR,’ THE MAN REPLIED, ‘LEAVE IT ALONE FOR ONE MORE YEAR, AND ILL DIG AROUND IT AND FERTILISE IT.
9 IF IT BEARS FRUIT NEXT YEAR, FINE! IF NOT, THEN CUT IT DOWN.'”

What do you think of this perception?

Imagine we are trees in a vineyard……

Needless to say the vineyard is earth.

Our role in this vineyard….. is to bear fruit.

The analogy that Jesus uses here is something that I find very intriguing.

I often relate it to a turkey that is being fattened up for the slaughter.

The turkey getting all the food and attention is envied by all the other turkeys.

Little did the turkey know that the reason why it was being fattened was because Thanksgiving day was around the corner.

This is a slightly more dramatic presentation of what Jesus is saying…… but the point is equally relevant.

Previously we talked about accountability.

God is constantly looking to see what kind of fruits we are bearing.

Life provides countless opportunities to bear good fruits.

Some money drops from a man’s pocket…… you have a choice to take the money or alert the man who dropped it.

Each day to day scenario provides a man with a clear cut decision to be made…… the question is how conscious are we of these decisions?

Or do we just go through life mindlessly seeking personal gain?

Jesus was quite fond of parables that used “trees”, “seeds” and “plants” as a comparison for human beings.

There is something about a tree that can be easily applied to expectations that God has in relation to man.

A tree grows…… and it grows in a certain kind of way.

Certain kinds of trees produce certain types of fruit.

The question is…….what kind of tree are you?….. what type of fruit are you producing?

Just because you are being “fertilized” (in the sense that you are surrounded by good things) does not mean that you are being favoured by God.

On the flip side….. the very fact that you are surrounded by good things places you at a much higher level of accountability.

The question is……What do you do with what you have?

Are you using what you have for God and other people?,,,,, or is it all centered around yourself?

We need to give careful thought to what kind of tree we are.

More importantly….. what kind of fruits are we producing?

Are we producing fruits of love?…… or are we producing fruits of anger, jealousy, hatred and a host of others?

Life is a lot deeper than what it appears to be on the surface.

Its about time we started inspecting our roots.

To be continued……