Root Level

“’Sir’, the man replied, ‘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, then cut it down.’” - Luke 13:8-9 
 
As we have previously highlighted, Luke 13 gives us a parable of a man who had a fig tree that wasn’t growing, so he went to a gardener. The problem was that the man tried to tell the gardener what to do. And when you try to tell the gardener what to do, you miss the lesson the gardener wants you to understand.

What is interesting about this parable is that the man wants to get rid of the tree in to get another. He wants to cut down the current tree and put another in its place. That is where many people make a mistake, thinking that the problem is with the tree.
 
It’s like believing that a securing another job or moving to a different city will automatically make life perfect. When the real issue may be one’s poor work ethic, poor spending habits, or having a disagreeable nature.  

We think, “I can just get a new husband or wife to make me happier. I can just switch jobs to make more money. I can get a better house to make me feel more accomplished or less lonely.”
 
However, replacing the unfruitful tree won’t necessarily make you more fulfilled. The lesson the gardener wants the man to understand is that the problem he is having isn’t at the fruit level, it’s at the root level.

The problem you are having right now is not only about what you see on the surface. There may be some underlying things that God wants you to work on within yourself.  

Ask God to reveal to you the unproductive things in your life at the root level, so your life can bear the right fruit.