APRIL 9 “GIVE IT A YEAR”

In our reading today, we read a very good parable about a fig tree that is about to be chopped down, for the simple reason, it's not producing figs. For 3 years now this fig tree has been visited, never once bearing any fruit, finally the command is made, to "chop it down". Your average person, would have said, "sure, it the stupid tree is not producing figs, cut it down, what do I care". However the average person is not the subject of this parable. It is a man that is above average. We would do well to have men and women like him in the church. He steps in on behalf of the tree and negotiates for the tree's life, even though it has no bearing on him. Not only does he negotiate for the tree's life, but makes a commitment to invest in the tree, do some digging, add some fertilizer, anything to give this tree "once more year". What a difference a year can make! The wisdom of this simple sentence, how many lives could have been saved from much heartache and baggage, had these simple words been adhered too. How many of us in hindsight would say, "if only I'd given it a year", my whole life would be different today. A year may have seemed like a long stretch at the time, but now I have way more than one year to reap the consequences of a bad decision. The man says, "give me another year, and not just another year of the same, but I will make the added effort and change/improve what I can. Many might say, "sure, let's give it another year" but do nothing different, but yet expect different results. That is either naive, wishful thinking or just plain dumb. This man says, "I will dig around, I will add fertilizer, let me see what I can do and we will leave the rest to mother nature", or as in our case, leave it to God. The wisdom here is not to go chopping things down and making irreversible decisions in the heat of the moment, give it a year! It's never to late to learn from the wisdom of God. Don't put an ax to the root quite yet, make whatever improvements & changes you can...and give it a year!

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