April 23, 2024
Pastor Darin Youngberg
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Daily Bread
Posted on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 by Bro_D
Daily Bread Oct. 18, 2017
Matthew 21:18-20 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. (19) And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" And the fig tree withered at once. (20) When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?"
Verse 18 is so AWESOME! It tells me that Jesus was as much man is man while being as much God is God. He became hungry – His body struggled, it needed food! I wonder of Jesus ever got “hangry” – that point where you need food and you need it now, and ain’t nobody and nothing gonna get in your way! How “hangry” are we for the Word of God – for the presence of God? We get upset when we have to wait too long for a meal …. Heaven forbid we even miss a meal. But, it seems quite simple to skip a time of prayer, or time in the Word …. Or go do something “fun” rather than meet with the gathering of God’s people.
Yesterday, we saw that Jesus said His Father’s house is to be a house of prayer – that also means that those whom the Father calls His children will be a people of prayer. In verse 19 we see a fig tree “pretending” --- a fig tree with leaves means it has fruit --- but, when Jesus goes for the fruit, there is nothing to be found. We can self-identify as anything we like – I can identify as a horse if I so choose, but that does not make me a horse. Just like a man identifying himself as a woman is foolish, any person identifying as a Christian yet not reflecting the characteristics lined out in the Bible of a follower of Christ is just as foolish AND much more dangerous – you can see that the fig tree is withered AT ONCE! In Acts 5 we see Ananias and his wife pretending ---- their sudden end ought to be a reminder of the fig tree!
As we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Supper on Oct. 29, it would be good for us to ask our gracious Heavenly Father, to reveal to us those things that are “fake” in our lives. Are we really who we say we are? Do we really believe what we say we believe? Are we living the life He has set before us? Are we just playing “church”? I truly believe it would not be a good idea to ignore the lesson of the fig tree – or to gloss over Ananias and his wife – the God we say we serve is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.