The vineyard owner planted fig trees in his vineyard.

The owner of the vineyard planted a fig tree in his vineyard.
However, this fig tree never bore fruit. 😱
...For three years, he had been searching for fruit, but only leaves grew, and no fruit was produced.
So the owner of the vineyard said to his caretaker, "I've been searching for fruit in this fig tree for three years now, but I've never found any. So cut it down.
Why are you letting it take up land?"
This is perfectly reasonable.
...In Okinawa, papaya trees are a common sight in gardens and fields.
There are male and female papayas!
You can tell them apart by whether or not they bear fruit when they grow up!
Naturally, male papayas that don't bear fruit are cut down.
...Because they never bear fruit, no matter how many years pass. For Christians...
It's the "fruit of the Spirit."
...I've been a Christian for 48 years...
...Christians who didn't bear fruit... naturally faded away, leaving the church and God. 😢
...I visited some of my friends who had left and talked to them about returning to God...
...Their hearts were hardened like stone, and they didn't come back. 😥
...A fig tree doesn't bear fruit for three years after planting the seed.

It starts bearing fruit from the fourth year!
...A Christian life, too...bears fruit in the first three years...by reading the Bible and attending church!
...May the Lord bless you greatly. 🙏

Shalom 😃

This page archives a Morning Word message shared by Pastor Peter Sunagawa on LINE. The English prose is a translation of the Japanese source message. For Scripture wording, use the BSB link above.