Mensa Otabil - Bearing Fruit
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Well, all too soon we have finished, uh, come to the end of the first full week of 2022, which started from crossover. Now the first full week has ended. So, look at chapter 13, verses 6 and 7. He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, «Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and found none. Cut it down! Why does it use up the ground?»
Jesus taught many lessons with parables, and in this parable, he is talking about bearing fruit or producing results. The key lesson we learn here is that God wants us to produce results. He doesn’t just want us to exist; he doesn’t want us to just be active; he doesn’t just want us to be busy. It’s important to work hard, to be busy, to invest in encouragement, and not to procrastinate. However, at the end of the day, all of that must produce results. We shouldn’t just be content with doing things or being active; we should be able to say, «This is what I did, and this is what it has produced.»
That is the parable that Jesus is talking about. God the Father is the owner of the vineyard; the fig tree represents our lives, and the vineyard is a place God has planted us. So God has planted us somewhere, and in the place that he has planted us, he wants our lives to produce results. If you look at the parable, the owner of the fig tree came looking for fruit, came looking for results, came looking for something productive.
God has designed us with tremendous care. He has made us who we are; he has given us gifts, abilities, intelligence, and His Holy Spirit. Beyond that, he has given us a brand new year. What are we going to do with this year? We have to produce results because when God invests treasure in us, he expects profit. God is very profit-minded, and when he invests something in us, he expects profit. If you look at all the parables Jesus taught around this, whether it’s the parable of the talents, the parable of the minas, or this parable, the net effect is that God is looking for results. When he invests something in us, he wants us to produce results with it.
So, if you look at the parable, the owner of the fig tree’s attitude represents God’s attitude, and it’s a very uncompromising attitude. It almost seems like a harsh attitude. He says, «I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree for three years, and there is none. Cut it down because it is wasting the ground.» That may seem harsh, but that is God’s attitude: when our lives are not producing results, he doesn’t smile; he doesn’t pat us on the back; he doesn’t get nice with us. God gets angry with us when our lives are non-productive.
So this year, if we want God’s favor in our lives, if we want God to smile on us, the way we do it is to produce results out of all that he has invested in us. When we do that, he increases us; he adds to us based on what we have already achieved. In this year of increase, don’t just expect that from heaven, God will give you things; that’s not how it works. You’re going to work hard; you’re going to produce results; and God is going to amplify your results. So when you’re supposed to get ten, he’ll make it a hundred for you, but you must produce the ten; you must produce the results. Your life must yield fruit.
So I pray for each one of us as we start the second week of this year that God will make our lives fruitful and that we will increase abundantly in all that we do.
In Jesus' name, let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, help me to make the most of all that you have invested in me.» In Jesus' name, amen and amen. We’ll start a new week tomorrow, and I’ll catch you again. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Bill shalom, peace and life to you.