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
Dear Jesus,
On Monday of that last week of your life you went into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple of busyness and restored it to a spiritual house of prayer and godly teaching. You cursed a fig tree for not producing the fruit it was supposed to and so showed all of us with that illustration that you and your Father created us to produce spiritual fruit of love, faith and hope. Oh Jesus, rescue me from business about so many temporal things that I do not produce true spiritual insight, faith, hope and love for myself or anyone else. Open my heart and cleanse it of frenetic activity that dulls spiritual sensitivity and maturity. Give me the peace and strength to sit quietly and meditate on your word and your love and what it means for my life and the lives of those in my family and among my friends.
Pastor Don Patterson
Pursuing peaceful contemplation of Christ and his blessings for us is much more productive than one might think at first.