Fruit for the Master

Daily Devotional – I’m Normal.™  I AM Ministries

“To promote Godly living in a culture committed to destroying it”

Normal I AM

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Fruit for the Master

In one of His last miracles, Jesus astonished His disciples by withering an unproductive fig tree. Upset because the tree bore no fruit, Jesus cursed the tree and prohibited it from ever bearing fruit again. Immediately, the tree withered and died. The lessons to the disciples – Jesus’ physical hunger was far less than His hunger for His followers. He wanted them to bear fruit through acts of righteousness and fulfill the Great Commission. He was also stating symbolically how the nation of Israel was withering, and would “die” in 70 AD.

The day before the incident, Jesus had ridden triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11). However, He left the city that night, either out of fear or lack of a place to stay. As He returned to the city, He hungered, both for His physical need of food and the spiritual food of doing His Father’s will. He knew His time had almost come. His fasting from food only underscored His zeal for His Father’s house and He hungered to do this miracle as much as He hungered from the physical need in His stomach.

Compounding Jesus’ situation was His lack of an Earthly house. By the standards of men, Jesus was desperately poor. He had no stores of food to sustain Him and no home in which to keep them had He been thus blessed. On this morning, rather than seeking a hot meal from a friend or stranger, Jesus would have been satisfied to quench His hunger with green, raw figs. For most people, such a meal would be undesirable; however, Jesus wished to teach a lesson more than He wished to satisfy His hunger.

In the desert-like land surrounding Jerusalem, the tree was instantly visible due to its full green leaves, which apparently caught Jesus’ eye. Jesus went up to the tree as though He were expecting fruit, but He knew the leaves were only an illusion, just as the Pharisees garments were superficial and an illusion of their true piety. In reality, the tree was barren of figs, just as the Pharisees’ relationship with God was barren.

To prove His point, Jesus then sentenced the tree to perpetual barrenness as the disciples watched it wither and die before their eyes. There was no time-lapse photography or computerized special effects, just His awesome power. The Romans were nearly as quick in dispatching the nation of Israel in 70 AD.

Spiritually, the cursing of the fig tree represents hypocrites in general, whether they are the Pharisees of His day or modern Christians today. Jesus demonstrated He expects fruit from those with leaves. He searches earnestly for the fruit from those who profess to be Christian, to know Him, and to follow His ways. This is a just expectation, whose lack of fulfillment frustrated Him continually in the Pharisees as they were quick to judge but slow to bear fruit. He expects nothing less from us today. Many today fuss over a form of Godliness and religion, but deny the power of it. Others use His name, but are not really alive in His name. This is a perilous state.

Jesus punished the sin of barrenness justly with the curse of barrenness. We are told to “Be fruitful”, a joyous and uplifting command. Reversing that, one of the saddest curses must be “Let no more fruit grow on you henceforth forever.” As only Jesus can do, He turned the sin into the punishment, thus forbidding us to do good no matter what our Earthly efforts.

A fruit tree has no free will to make choices, but we do. Jesus is calling you to “be intentional” about “being fruitful”. Are you bearing fruit for Jesus Christ? Can others see you bearing fruit for Jesus Christ? Most importantly, does Jesus Christ see your fruit? Do you think He cares more about your fruit than the fruit of a fig tree?

As human beings, we view fruitless trees as mere disappointments. Jesus, however, views fruitless trees as a curse. His reaction to the fruitless fig tree was to cause it to wither and die. He didn’t continue down the road looking for another tree, He killed it. Jesus took the life of this tree as a demonstration of His justice and His power. All power and judgment have been committed to Him, and He demonstrates vividly in this example how He is not only able to save, but destroy. As the author of Hebrews reminds us hauntingly, “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Jesus provided us with an awesome display of the power in His wrath and curse. In His usual love and kindness, however, He issued a warning and unleashed His wrath on an inanimate tree, not on any man, woman, or child. He waited another generation, until 70 AD, in hopes Israel would repent and bear fruit. But He resurrected Israel in 1948, and gave God’s Chosen People another chance.

He is still warning us today. The great day of His wrath is yet to come, where He will pour out His wrath and judgment on all of mankind, not just on inanimate trees. We ignore His warning at our peril.

Jesus wants you to be clothed in the beautiful, green leaves of Christianity, but He also demands fruit amongst your leaves (James 2:14). It is normal for a fig tree to bear fruit and it is normal for a Christian to desire to bear fruit in return for the gift of eternal life we receive through Him. He’s told us what He expects and He’s shown us how He responds to disobedience. Today you have a choice. I will be praying that you lose not a moment in starting to produce fruit.

In His love and service,

Jeff Myers
A servant of Jesus Christ

><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>
`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·…¸><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´`·.¸¸.·´¯

© Copyright 2016, I’m Normal.™  I AM Ministries, All rights reserved

If you find this devotional to be a blessing to you, please pass it along to others. You may become a subscriber by signing up at http://www.imnormal.com.

Complimentary copies of the eBook “I’m Normal. I AM” are available now at http://www.imnormal.com. Or, send your request to http://www.jeff@imnormal.com.

Paperback versions of the book “I’m Normal. I AM” are available through AuthorHouse Publishers at http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=38944

Are You Normal? What’s Normal about You? To find out, visit our website at http://www.imnormal.com

 

 

This entry was posted in I'm Normal. I AM and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *