Faithful Diligence Brings Honor

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Waiting On Master Brings Promotion

‘Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured. Proverbs 27:18’

How do you keep your fig tree? Faithful diligence brings honor. Waiting on your master brings promotion. Do not complain; get to work. You need sanctification more than you need education. You do not need brilliance; you need diligence. You do not need a sponsor; you need a motor. You do not need an opportunity; you need humility. Your greatest ability should be dependability. Graciousness will always trump genius.

Success is easy, even for lowly and simple men. All you must do is take good care of a successful boss or owner, and he will take good care of you. The man who keeps the fig tree gets to eat the valuable fruit, so the faithful servant will be rewarded by his master. This proverb is to encourage wise men to diligence and faithfulness in their professions.

You can trust this general rule of employment success. God only makes exceptions for more important reasons. If you want to get ahead, make your master so happy he cannot resist cutting you in on the real action. It has happened many times before; it will happen again. A wise servant can be promoted above even a son that is lazy or foolish (Pr 17:2).

Faithful men are rare today (II Tim 3:1-5; Pr 20:6; Ps 12:1), which makes this proverb even truer now. The contrast between your diligence and others’ laziness will be wider than ever – the same is true of your cheerfulness and their sullenness, your punctuality and their tardiness, your carefulness and their carelessness, and your obedience and their obstinance. Believe it! Find your fig tree, and keep it better than others. Success is easy.

Too good to be true? Joseph began at minimum wage – slavery! In thirteen years he sat on a throne of the richest nation on earth. He found three fig trees, and he was the best keeper all three had ever imagined – Potiphar, the jailor, and Pharaoh. Let God be true!

Too good to be true? Jacob ran away from home with only a staff. Twenty years later, he had four wives, twelve sons, and very much wealth. He had found a fig tree, a gnarled old tree with potential, and he kept it faithfully in spite of setbacks – Laban. Let God be true!

Too good to be true? Elisha was only a plowboy when he found his fig tree to take care of, the service of God and Elijah. But so faithfully did he serve both masters that he was given a double portion of Elijah’s spirit (I Kgs 19:19-21; II Kgs 2:1-15). Incredible! Let God be true! Let every man of God fulfill his royal call as a servant of the King of kings.

Regenerated reader, there is a glorious fig tree that only you know about. It is the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Jesus said, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26). How much honor? Jesus said again, “Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them” (Luke 12:37). Can it be true? Verily, there is a reward for the righteous (Ps 58:11).

Do you hear the Blessed and Only Master saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt 25:21,23). This is the truly important fig tree – Jesus Christ. How do you serve Him? A crown awaits the faithful (II Tim 4:7-8).

How glorious is the honor? “The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads” (Rev 22:3-4). Glory! Lord, lead me to Thy tree, and I shall keep it faithfully.

(Source: LGBT/PIB/GR/TYP/BIN/USPA/WN/IAIJ)/Proddatur