Enough but Not Too Much

Luke 13:6-9 - And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

Sometimes we quit too soon. A woman starts a business and does not see profit after two years, so she quits just before her business would have taken off. A salesman works hard cultivating a client base but gives up in frustration just before several would be customers would have been ready to make a deal.

Sometimes we keep going too long. After twenty unprofitable years, another businesswoman borrows to bankruptcy in the vain hope that one day her business will prosper. Another salesman annoys and alienates all would be customers with an obsolete product and an ineffective pitch.

Jesus’ parable serves as a warning to the Jewish people – often pictured as a fig tree in both the Old and New Testaments – that they had one last chance to “bear fruit” by welcoming the Kingdom of God and believing in Jesus. This is one of many of Jesus’ prophecies of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that was fulfilled less than forty years after he spoke these words. God gave them one more generation – pictured as one more year in the parable. They had their chance to respond to his message. Some did. Most did not.

The primary application for each of us is to take seriously the warning and ensure that we are in the faith and prepared for eternity. However, we can also apply the principle in many areas of life. Have you been working on something long past its useful life? Is it time to call it quits? Perhaps you are ready to quit too soon on a project that is just about to bear fruit. Give it one more chance.