SELAHS 4 U
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THE FLIP SIDE
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.Mark 11:12-14 (KJV)
19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.Mark 11:19-23 (KJV)
Have you ever wondered why Jesus cursed the fig tree?
One reason I've heard has to do with the symbolism of the fig tree and the nation of Israel, this then being a prophetic act.I would like to submit a second. I am willing to say this is my opinion, but I believe it to be one inspired by the Holy Spirit.I believe that Jesus was demonstrating to us the power of our words, both positive and negative. For Him to curse the fig tree seems a bit out of character at least from the standpoint of His being angry with the tree. He could have just as easily said, 'tomorrow you will be full of fruit' and it would have obeyed Him, but He didn't.
Perhaps you have heard the message preached from this passage that, "we can have what we say"? While I do not disagree with that message if we look at this incident from another point of view I believe we can see Jesus giving us a warning. Not only is He saying, we can have what we say, but that we get what we say.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.Luke 6:45 (KJV)
A Pastor of mine used to say, "what your full of will splash out when your bucket is bumped". What we believe will make it out of our mouths and what comes out of mouths will effect our today's and our tomorrows. The seeds of our words and actions are our thoughts (the conversations we have with ourselves on the inside) and those words need to be monitored as well.
Thank God for His mercy and grace. Thank God He is willing to help us put a guard on our minds and mouths if we but ask and then cooperate.
Today is wonderful and tomorrow will be even better.
SELAH
