FRUITLESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.

Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”

Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 21:18-22

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.

Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.

Then He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”

And his disciples heard him say it. 

In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered!”

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Mark 11:1-11, 20-24

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God didn’t create His people to just sit around and do nothing for Him. He gave them a life that was purposed from the very beginning to follow His will and accomplish great things in His name. Paul summed it up well in these words to the Christians in Colossae:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience. Colossians 1:9-11

Did you catch the expectation here?

God’s people are to seek the knowledge of His will for their lives, receiving wisdom and understanding through His Spirit. This is needed by every person God has created in order to live a life that pleases Him in every way, a life that bears fruit in every good work. It’s not an easy calling and this is why the Lord will strengthen His people with all the power of His glorious might and provide the necessary endurance and patience to carry out what He wishes.

In other words, there is no excuse for not bearing fruit in your life for God. None.  

Jesus had some things to say on this matter as well. Look at His words here from John’s Gospel:

“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.”

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.” John 15:1-4, 16

Again, it’s clear that God and His Son, Jesus, expect all created people to bear fruit. If they don’t, then God will cut them off because they are fruitless, not connected to the true Vine, Jesus, who leads and guides anyone connected to Him to fruitful living.

What does that living look like?

Paul tells us in His letter to the Galatian Christians:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23

When adopted, and we will adopt them when we connect ourselves to Jesus through the Holy Spirit, these actions lead us to a place where we will produce fruit in the way we live and serve others.

What might happen if we choose to do otherwise? Is there a consequence for not being fruitful?

Well, we already read the words of Jesus that said God would cut off any branches that weren’t connected to the vine, but as we see in today’s scripture passages from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus shows by example what could happen to someone who chooses to live fruitlessly.

You’ll remember from yesterday’s devotion that Jesus had just entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival, celebrated as royalty by those who lined the road to greet Him. The day was Sunday and Matthew’s account of the event finishes, we learn that Jesus went to Bethany with his disciples to spend the evening.

As we go to today’s scriptures, we learn it is the next day which would be Monday and Jesus is on His way back to Jerusalem with His disciples. It was about a two mile trip.

Along the road, Jesus became hungry and came upon a fig tree by the road. Mark’s account tells us that it was not yet the season for figs but this particular fig tree was full of leaves and should have been producing fruit. In other words, the tree looked as if it should have been fruitful but it wasn’t.

Given this, Jesus gave this command to the tree in plain sight of His followers:

“May you never bear fruit again!” (Mark’s account has Jesus saying, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.”)

And immediately, the tree withered.

So what’s the meaning here? What is Jesus trying to teach His disciples (and us as well)?

It’s simple. We are expected to bear fruit at the expected time and that expected time is when the Lord wants us to act according to His will. When we are moving in synchronicity with Him and the Spirit, then everything we do will be done in regard to His timeline, accomplishing the things He wants done. This is when fruit is produced.

But when we aren’t connected to the Lord and the Spirit (i.e. when we choose to do what we want to do), then we, like the fig tree, will look like we should be producing fruit but upon examination, no fruitfulness will be found. And since we aren’t productive, then we can be found of no use to the Lord anymore and face His judgment, perhaps in line to be withered like the fig tree was.

All this leads to one question:

Is your life bearing fruit for the Lord?

As you can see through our message today, the consequences are very high if the answer is “no”. Being found fruitless before the Lord is not a place anyone should want to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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