Devotional: The Grace Period

Luke 13:6-9 NRSV

If you are reading this, then God has extended your grace period—again. At the request of the Gardener, God has granted you more time so that you may produce fruit as you were created to do. 

Once upon a time, Jesus told a parable about you, about God, and about your time in God’s garden.

In case you didn’t know, a parable—literally meaning “to place alongside”—uses familiar, everyday experiences to help us see our lives in the light of God’s kingdom and discern its deeper truths.

Here is the parable:"A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” (Luke 13:6-9)

In this story, God is the owner of the vineyard, you are the fig tree, and Jesus is the gardener. You are planted in God’s vineyard, a place of good soil where everything you need to bear fruit is provided. The owner, who controls the weather and all other factors, ensures you have every opportunity to fulfill your purpose.

You were created to produce fruit. Producing fruit is the visible evidence of God’s Word at work in your life.

Producing fruit, then, is:

• Forgiving others as God has forgiven you.

• Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul (obedience).

• Loving your neighbor as yourself.

• Repenting of sin rather than continuing in it.

• Making disciples by teaching others what Jesus has taught you.

• Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.

• Doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. 

This list is not exhaustive, but you get the point. The seed that God has planted in all of us is the Word of God (Luke 8:11), and as we grow into a tree, God looks at our lives to see visible evidence of His Word.

Now here is an important note about your growth and development:You do not automatically bear fruit just because you have been planted in soil, nor can you truly bear fruit apart from the work of the Gardener. According to the Gardener, "Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

“The key to yielding fruit is to yield to the Gardener.”

When God examines our lives, God expects to find this kind of fruit. If we’re not bearing fruit, God has every right to cut us off. Yet, in His mercy, God doesn’t—not because we deserve it, but because Jesus, the Gardener, is the mediator between us and the Owner, interceding for us.

Jesus is the Gardener who prunes, cultivates, and tends to our lives. Because of His love and tender care for you, God extends grace.

Many credit cards offer a grace period—the time between a billing cycle’s end and the due date. During this time, no interest or penalties are charged, provided the debt is settled. Isn’t that what God does for us? His grace saves us from being cut off. Jesus Christ has settled your debt and committed to finishing the work that has been started in you (Philippians 1:6).

Thank God for the grace of the Owner and the care of the Gardener.Now, "Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2)

God’s grace is not an excuse for idleness; it’s an invitation to transformation. God’s grace is not a license to sin; it’s another opportunity to bear fruit.

Therefore, every day God extends your grace period, do what you were created to do: yield to Him, that you may bear fruit.

• Yield to Him, that you may forgive as you have been forgiven.

• Yield to Him, that you may repent of your sin.

• Yield to Him, that you may pray for people instead of gossiping about them.

• Yield to Him, that you may love others as Jesus Christ has loved you.

• Yield to Him, that you may bear love, joy, and peace.

• Yield to Him, that you may bear patience and self-control.

• Yield to Him, that you may obey Jesus’ words. 

• Yield to Him, that you may bear fruit.

  
  

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6, NRSV)

Breath Prayer

Inhale: Abide in me, Lord.

Exhale: And bear Your fruit.