apples to apples

This morning I was reading Luke 13 which includes the parable of the fig tree. In this gospel's version, it goes like this:

6-7Then he told them a story: "A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren't any. He said to his gardener, 'What's going on here? For three years now I've come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?'
8-9"The gardener said, 'Let's give it another year. I'll dig around it and fertilize, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn't, then chop it down.'"

I've always heard about Christians needing to bear fruit or get thrown into the fire. What stuck out to me when I read this though, was the gardener intervening on the tree's behalf. I was struck by the patience and faithfulness of the gardener. I think of all my years growing up in church, not applying what I was hearing.. and I'm so grateful I didn't get chopped.

Don't get me wrong, faith without works is dead. But God's love is everlasting and He is slow to anger. Thank Jesus that He finally got ahold of me.