Matthew 21:18
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus 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.
In the fall, the fig trees in my part of the country are getting ready to do something very important. They are getting ready to go into a period of rest called dormancy. This is their “vacation” of a sort – they release growth hormone inhibitors that slow the tree down, no leaves are grown – some may even fall off. It may look dead for a while; but then, come spring, it literally wakes up and produces delicious, healthy fruit. IF and only IF it slows down and rests will the fruit appear in the Spring. If it doesn’t slow down and just keeps growing, it will look healthy but it will not function like the fruit tree it is. Specifically, it will not produce fruit. It will grow, look extremely healthy, but produce nothing. When Jesus approaches the fig tree in Matthew 21, he finds a lush, green and growing plant, but no fruit. It may have been possible that the fig tree never had a time to set its fruit, a time where it allowed itself to go dormant so it could produce. Jesus and his disciples were hungry. Fruit trees are grown to produce fruit, to provide sustenance. What good is a fig tree that bears no fruit? Perhaps you (like me!) struggle with finding the time to go dormant. Perhaps it is difficult to allow your team the time to rest and build strength. Jobs are big, days are getting shorter and we feel the need to work harder. The temptation is to give up the times spent in good fellowship and growing conversations – giving up to keep up. The biblical story of the fig tree gives us another direction. Take the needed time to refuel and refresh the mind, body and spirit…. or we will produce no fruit – no impact, no significance, no purpose. What good is a fig tree that bears no fruit? Grow well, my friend. Jeff
Jeff McManus is the Director of Landscape Services of the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Mississippi. He has written two books, Prune Like A Pro and Growing Weeders Into Leaders. He can be reached at www.jeffmcmanus.com.
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