Lessons From a Lime Tree

“Then Jesus told this story: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden.’ “The gardener answered, ‘Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer.” 

(Luke 13:6–8, NLT)

This was almost verbatim what I said to Tom when we moved into this house in October and my lime tree was starting to drop its leaves. It was given to us in the spring as a pastor appreciation gift several years ago. It was healthy and bushy, full of life. When we put it on the deck for the summer, it put out beautiful fragrant blossoms and yielded us many limes. But when we took it back into the house when the weather turned cool and the days grew shorter, it developed a bad attitude. The once flourishing tree began to pout. As the winter wore on, it dropped more and more leaves. It looked so ridiculous by the time spring came around that we doubted it would recover. But once back on the deck in the sunshine, it came alive again.

This lime tree was developing a habit of blooming in the summer and almost dying in the winter. So it was that when we moved into here, a smaller home than where we moved from, I said to Tom, “That’s it, I am throwing this thing away. We don’t have room for it, and it is looking sad.” But I had mercy and decided I would give it one more chance. I would put it in the back room and let Tom try and nurture it back to health. If it was in the back room, no one would see it and it wouldn’t take up precious living room space. If it made it until spring, I would put it outside in the sunshine again and see if it would perk up. But this was the last year I was going to do this!

Tom is the green thumb in our relationship but even he hadn’t been able to rescue this tree from its annual shedding. Much to his credit, he did not give up. He gave it some fertilizer and kept watering it regularly.

The tree sits in my office right beside the chair I sit in to do my Bible reading and journaling. One morning in January, I noticed a sweet fragrance in the air. It reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then it dawned on me. That’s the scent of my lime tree. Upon closer examination, I noticed some blossoms beginning to form on the branches. I couldn’t believe it! This tree dies in the winter; it hates the long cold nights and the short-just-as-cold days. But here it was, putting out blossoms in the darkest coldest month of the year. Before long, there was a plethora of flowers covering every branch of the tree. Three months later and it is still blossoming. We have enjoyed our first lime of the season from the tree as well.

So, what lessons can we draw from this? It is winter. It is cold and harsh out there. And inside, this lovely lime tree keeps putting out blossom upon blossom, as though it has a song it just can’t keep from singing. I can’t even count the number of limes growing on it now.

There is a myriad of lessons we could draw from this. Rejoicing in the midst of adversity. Bloom where you are planted. Yield to the gardener’s touch. If you fertilize and water your plants they will grow, just like you will grow spiritually if you read your Bible and pray every day. I’m sure you can come up with several lessons of your own. But I looked up the context of the verse I opened with. The one about cutting down the stupid tree because it is just taking up space. The context is repentance.

What does repentance have to do with blossoming? In John 15:1-8 Jesus calls himself “The True Vine” and we, his family, are the branches grafted into that vine. As long as we remain connected to him, we will bear much fruit. But if we ‘block the flow of life’ we will not experience his life flowing through us. We will not be useful in his kingdom. One of the ways we block the flow is when we live with unconfessed sin in our lives. Perhaps we have been wronged and we feel justified as we hold on to ‘just a tiny offense’, or maybe there is something we are clinging to that is giving us a sense of control and we don’t want to give it up. Then there may be something we are not even aware is a sin. We cannot confess things we are not aware of so there may be times we need to ask Holy Spirit to reveal to us any sin(s) we have not confessed; any way in which we have blocked God’s life-giving love flowing to and through us. [I am not saying that when we sin, we lose our relationship with Jesus. I am saying that our relationship is hindered, that communication is blocked, and we won’t experience intimacy with him. Without that intimacy it is virtually impossible to please him.]

“If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw his unfailing love from me.” (Psalm 66:18–20, NLT)

“No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”” (Luke 13:5, NLT)

“But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” 

(1 John 1:7–9, NLT)

Repentance restores intimacy with Jesus and renews the flow of his love for us and ours for him and others.

This crazy lime tree is blooming and producing fruit in the most unusual circumstances. I’m glad I gave it one more chance. I’m grateful my gardener fertilized and watered it. Every time I walk into my office, I smell the fragrant blossoms and remember how joyous it is to remain connected to Jesus, allowing him to develop his fruit in me as I live untethered (relinquishing control to him) and with nothing hidden (confessing all my known sins daily). 

I bless you with experiencing intimacy with Jesus and great joy as he produces his fruit in you. Shalom.

My husband and I are taking a two-week holiday so I will not be blogging until the first week of May. Have a wonderful Easter.