Luke 13:6-9 NRSVue

⁶Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷So he said to the man working the vineyard, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ ⁸He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, well and good, but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”

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Some thoughts on this scripture

Reflection
This is a parable, so what is Jesus really talking about?

Reflection
Do I think I am wasting soil or bearing fruit, as far as God is concerned?

Reflection
If I want to change, God will always give me another chance. Am I going to take it?

Reflection
As with so many of Jesus' words, this must be set in its context. He is speaking to his own people, using an image from the prophets: Israel as the Lord's vineyard. He is begging his people to wake up to their opportunity, to bear fruit.

Reflection
You speak to me too, Lord. You look to me for fruit, for signs of love in my life. I do not want to be wasting my opportunities, but I rely on you to have patience and help me. Dig around me and dung me, even if it hurts. You alone know how to make something good of my life.

Reflection
Jesus saw a useless tree, drawing from the soil but giving no fruit: a parable for those who take out more than they put in. Not like Abraham Lincoln: /Die when I may, I want it said of me that I plucked a weed and planted a flower wherever I thought a flower would grow./