The Good Master

"Whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit; so he who waits on his master will be honoured."

Proverbs 27:18

We understand the concept of one who plants, waters, and tends a tree having the privilege of eating the fruit it produces.  Harvesting and eating figs is likely the main reason a fig tree was planted in the first place!  The owner of the land fertilises and prunes his trees in the right season so he will benefit the most from fruitfulness.  In an odd way, serving a fig tree leads to being served delicious figs.

The second stanza of this proverb is intriguing, for I would have assumed the master would be the one having an expectation of benefit from his servant.  Solomon turns it the other way round, that a faithful servant who waits on his master can expect to be honoured.  We catch a glimpse of this with Mordecai the Jew who was promoted by king Ahasuerus after he foiled a murder plot by eunuchs.  Mordecai was clothed in the king's clothes, was seated on the king's horse, and a noble proclaimed before him as he was led through the streets of Shushan:  "Thus shall it be done for whom the king delights to honour!"  Later Mordecai was promoted to the high-ranking position previously held by Haman, the enemy of the Jews.

There may be a master who does not esteem or care to honour his servants, but we can know God certainly does crown His servants with honour.  Jesus Christ came to earth as the servant of all, only doing His Father's will, and God has exalted His name over all other names.  Paul affirmed God will give every man according to his deeds and said in Romans 2:10-11 also "...glory, honour, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God."  James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."  It is written of Christians and servants of the living God in Revelation 1:5-6 that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth who has made us kings and priests to His God and Father.  What greater honour could be bestowed upon anyone?

There likely have been people who planted and tended fig trees that never produced figs, and such would have been disappointed to look for fruit and never find it.  There are no such disappointments possible for the born again Christian who waits on the LORD and serves Him faithfully, for he who waits on his Master will be honoured.  David urged in Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"  Those who wait on the LORD will be strengthened, honoured and blessed now and forever.  We do not serve God to be honoured, but we can know God honours those who honour Him.