a story about a tree...

i've been walking with God for the last 20ish years. i often have used the phrases "by God's grace" or "the grace of God" or "thank you God for your grace."

the funny thing is that charles (my husband) and i are only now beginning to finally grasp and understand the grace of God. he read the book "what's so amazing about grace" (p. yancey) this summer and said "tif, you have to read this book." i'm only 30 pages into it and its really rocking the way i think and believe.

i so often work my way into God's presence which really leaves me in the 'outer court' hanging out since you can't work yourself any where near God. little did i know...

this morning i was reading luke 13. the title over the section said 'repent or perish' and it caught my attention since it was followed by some of jesus' teachings. its very interesting--let's take a look...

those standing around jesus where asking him about some galileans that were grusomely killed by pilate. jesus' response was "do you think that these galileans were worse sinners than all the other galileans because they suffered this way? i tell you, no! but unless you repent, you too will be all perish." and continues his point again emphasizing, if you don't repent you will perish.

the very next verse (v.6) jesus tells a parable to finalize his point and here is where it gets interesting. he tells a story about a man who had a fig tree and for 3 years. that fig tree NEVER BORE ANY fruit. the man went to the caretaker of the vineyard and said "cut it down! it's using up the soil."

the caretaker's response was "leave it alone for one more year, and i'll dig around it and fertilize it. if it bears fruit next year, fine! if not, the cut it down."

it hit me: 'wow! that's jesus' perspective.' here he is talking about 'repent or perish' but the story he tells to make it all real clear exemplifies his grace...he says 'let me do a little more on them. give me a little more time. let me help them along. don't cut it down yet--i think some fruit will come out with a little more love.'

that is really how he feels about us. even when we feel like we've failed, he's doing more work, giving us more time, because he KNOWS that you can bear fruit!