Feed The Hungry!

Today’s Reading: Matthew 21:18-22

Why did Jesus command the fig tree to never bear fruit again? Was he simply aggravated at the fact that the tree did not have the fruit to satisfy his hunger? I don’t think so, I think there was much more to Jesus’ actions. Once again, I can only tell you what I think, which may or may not be correct, but it is just how I see things. You already know that I believe Jesus is telling us something by every action that he takes and it is no different in this story. Spiritually speaking, there is a lot of hungry people in this world looking for something to satisfy that hunger and if we are not bearing the fruit of love that God has so graciously placed within us than what good are we? If we know that Jesus is the answer, if we know he is the way to salvation, if we know that we will not make it without him, and we are not telling people these things, then really what good are we? We are not, we are just taking up space and existing for ourselves. We were not placed here for ourselves, we were placed here to love and to show others that love and how to receive it. Maybe Jesus was trying to make a point here. What good is a fig tree or any fruit bearing tree if it doesn’t produce fruit? It might as well whither away because it is not doing the job that it was created to do. Are you doing the job that you were created for? Am I doing the job that I was created for? Only God can give us those answers, but I think that we all know in our heart if we truly are or not.

Even after all those miracles, the disciples seem to be completely amazed by the fact that the fig tree withered away so quickly. I just love Jesus’ response to their questioning of this incident. He doesn’t try to explain in detail of what exactly happened to the fig tree, in fact he doesn’t even mention what he did at all. He simply explains to them that they can do the same thing if they just have faith. I love how he begins by saying “I tell you the truth” and ends by saying “if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”. Three powerful words…truth, believe, and prayer!

I can only speak for myself, but from talking to many others I know that most of you feel the same way when I say that as children of God we need to step it up a bit…a lot! We need to bear more fruit than we ever have because we will eventually dry up and whither away if we don’t. I see that all around me, it seems like people are just trying to survive this life and don’t realize that by just trying to survive they are gradually withering away. This life was not meant just for survival, God placed us here during this time for a purpose and that is to live with excitement for him---a purpose of showing others the way to him. We are not going to reflect Jesus by simply surviving this life---we can only reflect him when we are truly living this life with a much bigger purpose in mind. I know the economy is terrible, that people are loosing their jobs, that things seem to get harder everyday----but we were put here during this time for a reason and we can not let go of that! God is God and the economy does not affect who he is---therefore we should not let the troubles of this world affect who we are in Him! This is the very time to step up and proclaim who we are----we are the children of the Living God! We are to be recognized by the fruit we bear and we are here to feed the ones that are hungry! We stand upon truth and believe that all things are possible with Christ!