In Luke 13, our Lord Jesus told a parable about a fig tree that consistently failed to bear fruit. Frustrated, the vineyard's owner instructed the vineyard's keeper to cut the fig tree down. However, the keeper asked if he might give it another year to work and fertilize the soil around it. If it still proved unproductive, then it would be cut down.

Now, of course, the primary application is that Israel was the vineyard and Jerusalem was the fig tree--and both were running on borrowed time. As God’s vineyard and fig tree (see Isaiah 5:1-7, Jeremiah 8:13), their persistent lack of true spiritual fruit would eventually lead to the nation being cut down in judgment, and that is exactly what happened. In A.D. 70, Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans.

However, what is the application for us today? All of us have been given an allotment of time and are responsible for how we use it. Time is a stewardship.

For three years, the owner expected figs which never came. The time reference to “three years” (Luke 13:7) may very well refer to the time spanning the ministry of both John the Baptist and Jesus preaching a message of repentance. Yet, the nation had failed to bring forth fruit “in keeping with repentance” (see Matthew 3:8). God graciously gave the nation time to repent (see Revelation 2:21), but the day of grace eventually came to an end and judgment fell.

As Christians, we are responsible for how we use the time the Lord gives us. The writer of Hebrews rebuked his readers for their spiritual delinquency saying, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again." (Hebrews 5:12)

Our time is not our own. We are all on borrowed time, and the door of opportunity will not always remain open. Just as the vineyard owner was disappointed by the fruitless fig tree, so the Lord is disappointed when we fail to grow and bear fruit in our lives. He expects us to be fruitful, growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

Now, God has given you another year. Don’t be like the fig tree merely taking up space and wasting the time God’s allotted you. Strive for spiritual growth and fruitfulness. This means living to please the Lord as the Apostle Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:9-10)

To the Colossians, Paul wrote, "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Colossians 1:9-10)

So, as we begin a new year, let us resolve by the grace of God to use our time to do good, to serve, to share, to grow, and to love as Jesus loved. I found a quote in my mother-in-law’s Bible that said, “Lovest thou life? Then squander not thy time, for time is the stuff life is made of.” It’s also been said that you can’t kill time without injuring eternity. I believe that’s true. So, in 2023 let’s remember the wise words of the great missionary C.T. Studd who said, “Only one life, t’will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”