Verse: Matthew 21:18-22
18 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 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. 20 When the disciples saw this they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, 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. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Devotion
If you are like me, you are not an expert on fig trees. But Jesus and the people of that time did understand fig trees and this one had leaves on it but not figs. Fig trees are supposed to have fruit on them when they have their leaves.
Do you know people like this? They are all show and no go. They look good when they go to church but they don’t live the life that bears fruit. They are missing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Jesus expects us to bear fruit that others will benefit from. This fruit of the Spirit will draw people to Jesus. People will wonder why you are peaceful during tumultuous times. How can you love people that are unloving.
Again, likely you are like me and you are not there yet. We are a work in progress, striving to mature in our faith. But it can seem like there are significant obstacles that we can’t get passed and we can’t seem to change, like longstanding beliefs about money or relationships. Or character traits like pride or anger that we can’t move out of the way so that we can grow.
That is why Jesus tells the disciples that, through faith and prayer, you can move these mountains in your life. Jesus was giving them hope and is giving us hope today that we can conquer these problems that look like immovable mountains. He is telling you and me that we “can do all things through Christ you strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
Try it. Pray for a month to move that mountain in your life and see what happens. The mountain may move, you may move, you may have a different perspective that shrinks that mountain. Then let someone know what God has done for you.
Prayer
Dear Lord, help me to grow in my faith to a place where I am aligned with your will and am praying against the obstacles that you want removed from my life. I long to see those mountains moved.
Author: Brad Dunn
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