From today we’re gonna be doing a deep dive into the parable Yotam shared.
There’s a significant life lesson contained in his oracle that I believe goes to the very heart of why there’s so much pain and heartache in the world today.
So pay close attention to what I’m about to share here.
Yotam begins by sharing a story about a group of trees (representing the people of Shechem) who decided they wanted a king to rule over them.
So what did they do?
They first invited the Olive Tree to be their king.
But the Olive Tree declined their offer.
Next the trees asked the Fig Tree if it wanted to be king.
And the Fig Tree also declined.
After that they offered a grape vine to be their ruler but the grape vine also said “no”.
Finally, they asked a Bramble to rule over them and wouldn’t you know it?
The Bramble accepted…BUT there was a caveat to that acceptance.
So why did the Grapevine, the Olive Tree and the Fig Tree refuse to become king?
The reason the Olive Tree declined is because it realized its purpose and high calling was to produce oil to be used by men for the Lord’s purposes.
The Olive Tree realized it would be wasting its divine purpose on earth if it decided to instead lord its authority over the other trees by arrogantly waving its branches back and forth over them.
The Fig Tree responded in like manner letting the trees know that it’s purpose was to produce delicious sweet fruit to be eaten by men instead of meaninglessly govern other trees.
And the grapevine also responded in like manner.
That its purpose in life was to produce grapes that could be used for a variety of Godly purposes such as being transformed into wine that could be used as the libation offerings during certain sacrifices and celebrations.
The reasons for declining were the same for all three of them.
They said to themselves why in the world should I exchange my divine purpose just to rule over a bunch of trees?
There’s a huge life lesson being imparted to us here.
See, the trees were asking the grapevine and the Olive and Fig Tree to ignore who God created them to be in exchange for societal approval and acceptance.
However, they wisely understood that a leadership role that is not God-ordained is doomed for disaster.
They also possessed the wisdom the to realize that TRUE fulfillment and satisfaction in life comes from being who they are by nature.
When I say “by nature”, I mean who God created them to be.
To abandon your own unique God-given gifts and mission and madly rush off to do something else driven by fleshly ambition and ego will only result in pain and heartache EVEN IF YOU SUCCEED IN THE WORLD’S EYES.
Got it man?
And not only that, your value to the Kingdom will always be based on who God created you to be.
NOT how the world sees you.
NOT what society expects of you.
NOT want your parents desired for you.
True and lasting contentment and comes from using the talents that God gave you (and only you!) and not ignoring them by burying them in the sand and going off and doing something else.
So stop comparing yourself to others and think that you’re inferior because you don’t have some big leadership position or aren’t making 20 billion dollars a year.
Not all of us were born to do such things.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Who are you,
a mere human being,
to talk back to God?
Will what is formed say
to him who formed it,
‘Why did you make
me this way?'”
-Romans 9:20
Judith Chesney says
A word in season!
richoka says
Amen!
Abraham says
God bless you