Today I am actually going to take you back to Day #1. It shouldn’t be that far of a stretch:
THE LIFE COACH SCHOOL PODCAST – Episode 285
I had such an incredible experience revisiting in my mind what I had learned from the DAY #1 podcast and subsequent blog post, I wanted to use this entire post today as a “post script”.
“What are you ready to be complete with, and what do you want to start experiencing?”
That was from Brooke Castillo, of course. But this part is not, though it confirms the same principles. Stay with me here!
JACOB 5 – The Allegory of the Tame and Wild Olive Trees
CHARACTERS:
- The master of the vineyard
- The servant/helper/counselor to the master
SETTING:
- An olive tree vineyard, with young and old trees, branches, roots, tame fruit and wild fruit, good ground and poor ground
“A man took and nourished (a tame olive tree) in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and began to decay. And the master of the vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive tree began to decay; and he said: I will prune in, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it … perish not.”
Jacob 5:3-4
At this point in the allegory, the master of the vineyard hired a servant to counsel with him and work with him in his vineyard.
“And he said unto his servant: …We will pluck off those … branches which are beginning to wither away, and we will cast them into the fire that they may be burned.”
Jacob 5:7
The master and the servant plucked off some natural branches, to be burned. But they also grafted in new branches. And then redistributed others of the natural branches “in the nethermost parts of the vineyard, some in one and some in another.”
Time passed.
“And it came to pass that the (master) of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labor.”
Jacob 5:16
Reading through the allegory, we learn that the master and the servant found that the branches grafted into the tree had “sprung forth and begun to bear fruit. And he beheld that it was good”. That tree in the vineyard was doing well.
Next:
“They went forth wither the master had hid the natural branches of the tree … and he beheld the first that it had brought forth much fruit; and he beheld also that it was good.
“And the (master) said unto his servant: Look hither and behold the last. Behold…I have nourished it this long time, and only a part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit, and the other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit”.
Jacob 5:20,25
DISCLAIMER (before I expand on the allegory): I’ve both read and heard different interpretations of this allegory, so I took courage in applying its possible meaning to my life experience.
Is it possible that we, like the master of the vineyard, are stepping back and looking at our lives – our own vineyards. Our habits, our relationships, our hobbies, even our thoughts. Which are serving us well? Where can we prune and what branches can we graft in? Which branches are providing us with good fruit, and where have our efforts gone unrewarded?
Should we pluck off some branches in our lives, and plant them in other parts of the vineyard – a different time and place in our lives, where it might grow and give us good fruit?
Which trees and branches should we pluck and burn altogether?
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
Luke 3:9 KJV
We learn later in the allegory that it is the servant who counsels the master to burn some and replant others. I am so grateful for those in my life who have cared to counsel with me, carefully, gently, and honestly.
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