Was it Just a Barren Fig Tree? ~ Christine Malkemes

Read Luke 13:6-9, The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree.

Dear Sister Disciple,

Sometimes everything looks good on the outside, but there is no fruit. So it was just a barren fig tree…or was it?

 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. Luke 3:6

Fig trees are common trees in the Middle East, like Oak trees here. They’re rarely planted in a vineyard because the roots are deep and the branches large. The fig tree takes up much of the ground that should have gone to the grapevines.

Lesson Learned

I learned a valuable lesson about fruit on trees when my neighbor planted an orange tree in my front yard to welcome me to Florida. I was excited and waited years in expectation. But, unfortunately, the tree never blossomed or bore fruit, no matter how much time I spent taking care of it.

I was so frustrated that I finally came to my neighbor and said, “Jack. I thank you for the orange tree, but it refuses to bear fruit.” He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Chris, that tree will never bear fruit.”

why?

He said he grew it from a store-bought orange. So many pesticides and dyes are used on store-bought oranges that they’re good from nothing but to eat. The seeds are impotent.

In Summary

I confess that the tree is no longer there. It looked good, but it was barren.

Maybe this is what Jesus is telling us. Check the seed. Is it pure or contaminated? It is barren or impotent. 

A fruitless tree will never bear fruit no matter how good it looks on the outside.