But the olive tree said to them, Should I leave my fatness, with which by me they honor God and man, and go to wave back and forth over the trees?
"Should I leave my fatness?" I have this great boon, should I lightly lose it? It is the greatest advantage in life to be useful both to God and man "By me they honor God and man." We ought heartily to prize this high privilege. To leave this for anything which the world can offer would be great loss. "Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon?" etc., (Jeremiah 18:14 ; Jeremiah 2:13 ). Our possession of fatness meets the temptation to become a king. We are happy enough in Christ, in his service, with his people, and in the prospect of the reward. We cannot better ourselves by the move; let us stay as we are. We may also meet it by the reflection. That the prospect is startling "Shall I leave my fatness?" For an olive to do this would be unnatural: for a believer to leave holy living would be worse (John 6:68 ). That the retrospect would be terrible--"leave my fatness." What must it be to have left grace, and truth, and holiness, and Christ? Remember Judas. That even an hour of such leaving would be a loss. What would an olive do even for a day if it left its fatness? That it would all end in disappointment; for nothing could compensate for leaving the Lord. All else is death (Jeremiah 17:13 ). That to abide firmly and reject all baits is like the saints, the martyrs, and their Lord; but to prefer honor to grace is a mere bramble folly.
