Whoever keeps the fig tree shall eat the fruit of it; so he that waits on his master shall be honoured.
To keep a fig tree is to protect, nurture, and water it. This verse offers the principle of reaping and sowing. God rewards the worker. God writes the paychecks. Sometimes the rewards may be delayed for a few years. We may cultivate multiple businesses and multiple sources of income and see little fruit from the endeavors for a year or even two or three. Some plants bear fruit in three months and some in three years. But patient, arduous labor over the long run always yields good fruit.
Those who work for a paycheck expect immediate fruit from their labors, and they believe the harvest comes from men. However, the farmer understands this principle differently. He knows that he must wait for his rewards, and every plant will not necessarily yield good fruit. The man of faith knows that God is the source of all good things, and as surely as He oversees the law of gravity, He controls the law of sowing and reaping. Men may try to cheat one another, but God will see to it that every person is rewarded according to what he sows (Gal. 6:7).
This proverb speaks powerfully to the age-old system of mentorship. Let us say that a young eighteen-year-old man sets out to apprentice with a successful Christian attorney. The older man opens up his office for the young man and teaches him the practical issues of client relations, court room etiquette, methods of argumentation, law office accounting, and how to integrate Christian principles into the practice of law. He takes note of the young man’s character flaws and begins to hone him in these areas. Over two or three years, the apprentice finds ways in which he can take some of the day-to-day burdens off of his mentor. He empties the wastebaskets in the office at first. He waits on his master. As time progresses, he helps with research on case precedents and types up the affidavits, pre-trial motions, and other legal documents. In a mentorship like this, the mentor usually consumes more time with the apprentice than the apprentice is giving in helpful assistance for the first year or two. By the second or third year, he begins to provide some benefit for the mentor. The master may hold back from remunerating his apprentice during the early period of the apprenticeship. But the young man should find the training, the practical experience, and the networking invaluable to his future career, and he will enjoy rewards from this mentorship for many decades to come. Even as the fig tree doesn’t yield fruit for three to five years, the apprentice may not enjoy much fruit right away. But if he throws himself wholeheartedly into the mentorship, he will enjoy the fruits of his labor in future years. And when a mentor’s heart is committed to the success of his apprentice, he will see to it that the young man is remunerated eventually. Yet if the master refuses to give the apprentice a dime, you can be sure that God will reward the young man for his commitment, his self-discipline, and his faithfulness.
1. When it comes to rewards and paychecks, what is the difference between a job and an entrepreneurial endeavor?
2. How does a young apprentice help the mentor? How will his faithfulness result in blessing in the years to come?