Wild Olive Trees

We were all wild olive trees! We didn’t know anything about the wonderful things of God. We were strangers to the promises, the covenant and the blessings of God. We produced olives, but the olives we produced were bitter fruits, unfit for the Kingdom of God. Our olives were born of a life a sin and darkness.

But thank God, when we accepted Jesus Christ, we were wild olive trees no more! Now we grafted into the same commonwealth as the nation of Israel. Some have said that we are spiritual Jews, and I guess that’s okay, but it’s more than that!

We are now partakers of the same promises, the greater covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ; heirs to the promise of the Messiah, the Son of God. We are now joint heirs with Christ! We are founded upon that same root system that Israel had through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and so many more; and through the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

One thing that I find very interesting about olive trees is that they thrive and grow the best in the worst of ground.

Olive trees have been transplanted or planted in fertile soil, in the same conditions as many other crops and trees. There they were fertilized and watered and tended to for a long time. But they never produced much fruit. In that kind of ground they become too susceptible to disease. In addition to that, the tree may get pretty, full and green, but there will be little useful fruit produced. It seems that the tree worries about its appearance more than its fruit when times are easy. And when they did bear fruit it was often unusable.

Olive trees bear their greatest harvest of fruit when they’ve been planted and grown in rocky, sandy soil where there is little water. It seems that their fruit requires great adversity to really produce.

But keep in mind that from the time the olive tree is planted until it begins to bear a lot of fruit can be as long as 15-20 years. That requires a lot of work and patience on the part of those that tend to the trees.

Let all of us learn the lessons that are given here! In adversity our faith is grown! In the hard times, we learn to trust God more! In the dry times, when it seems that there is little water spiritually, we learn to appreciate more that which God gives and we learn from it. Through great adversity we will be a light for Christ in this dark world. And through much tribulation, we shall be made overcomers and God will be magnified by our obedience to his call!

Like the olive trees in fertile, easy conditions, Christians often get too concerned with their own needs and their own fleshly desires rather than being concerned about the kind of fruit they are bearing for the Lord. When we look inwardly and begin to develop pride and self-reliance, believing that somehow we have become more than we are, we are like that beautiful olive tree; full of self-indulgence but bearing little fruit; but oh don’t we look good to everyone else!

Also, let’s lean to serve the Lord with patience and to have a lot of patience with other Christians who are still growing too. We aren’t all growing at the same speed! For most of us it takes time and a whole lot of growing, a constant time of learning and changing. Some Christians seem to take a very long time before they will begin to bear fruit for the Lord. Others grow faster and produce fruit quicker. Remember, we weren’t all planted in the same ground, or circumstances of life, but we are in grafted into the same good stock, the root system of Jesus Christ. For reasons known only to the “Root” some have to face a lot more adversity and take a whole lot more growing and changing before their light shines brightly.