Proverbs 27:18

THE OUTWARD LIFE OF A STEWARD
Choosing a Lifestyle

He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 27:18 says, He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit (NASB). Using an agricultural image of his day, Solomon gives us the benefit of working – we get to eat the figs from the tree to which we tend. But notice Solomon doesn’t say, “He who tends to the fig tree will eat ALL its fruit.” So you have any idea what would happen if you tried to eat ALL the figs on a fig tree? Let’s just say, it might make you sick. Yet, for many, this is exactly how they try to live – each year eating their entire crop of figs making themselves financially “sick to their stomach.” Let me suggest, instead, you only consume some of your figs, plant some of them to grow future fig trees, and then give the rest of them away to others who are hungry. You will be much healthier for it. Think about it.