Last night in Peer we studied the parable of the Fig tree. This can be found in the Luke 13:6-9. In this passage, Jesus tells a story of man with an unfruitful fig tree. The man is tired of its failure and wants his gardener to cut it down. The gardner begs for one more chance to help the fig tree.
In the Bible, fruitfulness is a picture for living a life that is pleasing to God. Jesus tells his disciples that you will know a tree by its fruit (Matt 7:16). So often, we do not produce the fruit that a Godly life calls for. We mess up or we fail, and it seems as if we are barren as Michigan trees in December. However, Jesus does not see us this way. Imagine him as the gardener who begs for one more chance. He sees something in us. When God looks at us, he does not see the barreness that we see. God sees his children that are ready to burst forth in an abundant harvest.
If you want to dig deeper into this parable, I invite you to visit the website www.36parables.com. Watch the short film titled “Sean.” After watching the film, go over these questions with your kids.
- What did Sean do? How did Sean’s teacher react to this incident? What did he (the teacher) see when he looked at Sean?
- Read the scripture again Luke 13:6-9
- How is this scripture similar to the movie?
- Bearing fruit = living the Christian faith. What are some ways that we can bear fruit. In other words, “How does our faith in Jesus effect the way we live?”
- What does God see when he sees you. This is a great opportunity to affirm your children and tell them that God loves them.
