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In the morning, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the side of the road, he went to it and found nothing at all on it but leaves. Then he said to it, ‘May no fruit ever come from you again!’ And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither at once?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, “Be lifted up and thrown into the sea”, it will be done.Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.’ (Matthew 21:18-22)
The week of Jesus preparing for His sacrifice, He did many things. That riotous scene at the Temple; who expected that? And this story about His being hungry and seeing a fig tree with nothing on it but leaves. Then Jesus withers the tree and says, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" Ouch. Was it just the tree that caused Jesus' anger? Hmm. The money changers and sellers in the temple couldn't still be on His mind, could they? And the general lack of faith in Jerusalem couldn't be troubling Him either could it? His lesson to the disciples indicates that Jesus expected more. You and me could have been the source of His anger even then two thousand years ago; do we have enough faith? Are we showing the fruit that we should in response to our faith?
The lesson from this short passage is to increase our faith and our fruitfulness. Jesus taught, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done." And a verse that was a favorite of mine in my youth: Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive." He gave us faith. He gave us prayer. Can't we put the two together and make for an incredible harvest of frutifulness?
I believe we can.
PRAYER: Loving God, speak to my heart and mind; increase my faith and help me be fruitful. May the mountains of doubt we encounter today be thrown into the sea, along with my sins. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name. Amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
