Read Luke 11-13
Have you ever brought home a plant from the nursery with all the best intentions? You water it, feed it, even talk to it, but a few weeks later the thing looks atrocious. Instead of throwing the plant out, you drive down to the nursery and pick up some Miracle Grow. You download a Yanni CD from iTunes and you start watering it with vitamin water. At first it starts to look a little better, the leaves are perking up, the base is looking healthy, it looks like you’re in the clear and plant is going to make it.
Then panic strikes, VACATION!!! You put one last dose of vitamin water, a dusting of Miracle Grow, Yanni on a loop, and even pay the 12 year old neighbor kid $20 in advance to come over and check on your luscious greenery.
2 weeks later…
In the door you walk, look down at your box of mail, check the overflowing litter box, then you make the your way to your pride and joy “THE PLANT”. As you approach the door, much to your dismay, you’re not hearing Yanni, but some techno dub-step thing. As you put you hand on the door knob you notice the empty water can on the floor. As you turn the handle and slowly push the door open you kick an empty box of miracle grow. With dub-step music blasting, your panic stricken eyes look up to see “THE PLANT” completely withered.
In the story of the Barren Fig Tree, Jesus teaches us the importance of our lives producing fruit. We vitamin water our lives with church, we loop worship music to fill our soul’s, and we feed ourselves with Miracle Grow by reading the Bible. Then, vacation hits, promotion at work comes along, the neighbor kid starts dating our daughter, family is in town, or some other distraction comes along…and we stop producing fruit.
So, let’s stop letting life’s distractions get in the way of us producing fruit.
- Dave Sauer is the Middle School Pastor at Adventure Church.
