Today I thought of this
preach letter I wrote in 2013 and wanted to take another look at its message. I
updated it and I think you’ll like it too.
DIG AND DUNG
God often compares people to trees. And sometimes we
need to do some spiritual digging and dunging to those trees. What does that
mean? Jesus tells us about this in Luke 13: 6-9:
“He spake also this parable; ‘A certain man had a fig
tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none.
“Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard,
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none:
cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
“And he answering said unto him, ‘Lord, let it alone
this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit,
well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.’”
If our lives are spiritually dull and not producing the kind of
fruit we desire, then it’s probably a good time for us to do some digging and
some dunging.
I have a fig tree in my yard that I’ve had for 17
years. I started off fertilizing it every year, but for the past three years
when I thought about doing it, I remembered how hard it was to dig up the
ground around the tree to even be able to put some fertilizer in there. After a
period of time, the ground gets so compacted that it’s a difficult job to put
anything new into it.
That’s how our spiritual lives get sometimes—compacted
and hard. We need to stir things up, breaking up some of our old ways of
thinking and old ways of spending our time. We need to ask some questions as to
why do we think the way we do? When a person digs around a tree, he or she
aerates the ground and gets things moving. That’s what we need to do
spiritually. Paul tells Timothy:
“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up
the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath
not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”
(2 Tim 1:6-7)
We can never be afraid of digging; stirring things up
a bit. It may be exactly what’s required to get rid of old thinking and boring,
routine patterns.
Then there’s the matter of dunging. I thought about
what it means to dung a tree. Dung is manure, a type of
fertilizer. It’s organic, alive, not watered down, not genetically engineered,
but good, rich, hot manure. The dictionary defines “fertilize” as “to make
fertile; make fruitful or productive; enrich.” Fertilizer is “any material put
on or in the soil to improve the quality or quantity of plant growth.”
Fertilizing a tree gives it an extra boost. The
process of digging and dunging often requires one to get down on their knees.
Right now is the time to give our lives that extra spiritual
boost of the Word of God, whether in study or application. The burdens of the
world will always be there. If they are bringing us down, we definitely need some
super fuel of what the Lord is trying to tell us; we need His extra energy to
make a positive difference in our world.
The Lord gives us hope and He is the deliverer
physically, emotionally and mentally on an individual basis; as well as the
deliverer of nations on an international perspective. Anything on the
international level still begins with the spiritual health of the individual.
Let’s be open to the Lord’s leading, as far as prayer
goes and/or the sections of scripture He’s guiding us to; maybe a word study on
some issue He wants to help us with? Just think about it and see what the Lord
brings to mind.
How about testing out a new principle like the laying
on of hands for healing, or confronting a devil spirit with the name of Jesus
Christ? Whatever we see Jesus or any other believer in the Bible do, we can ask
the Lord to teach us and help us to do the same and He will be perfectly
willing to help and guide us into it.
There are choices we make every day on how to spend
our time. A good gardener digs and dungs at least once a year. The man in
Jesus’ parable hadn’t done either in three years, so his tree quit producing
fruit. Let’s not be like that. Let’s be diligent to take great care of our
spiritual trees; digging, stirring up and fertilizing the blessings God’s given
us.
Love, Carolyn
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