“Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree had withered from the roots up.” (Mark 11:10 CSB)
We are following along with Jesus this week, picking our way through gospels as He marched resolutely toward His cross. On this Tuesday He was on His way to the Temple for the third time in as many days. The disciples took note of the now-withering fig tree Jesus had cursed the previous morning.
We spent a good deal of time discussing this tree yesterday. The fig tree had for sure symbolized the religious leadership, but perhaps also the expanded Temple and the extra man-made additions to the Law. In His cursing of the fig tree, Jesus had made it abundantly clear: the time for fruitlessness was over. This business of big show for public opinion but rotten internally was done. Jesus wasn’t having any more of it.
Today I’m thinking about this dying fruit tree and wondering, what shrivels us from the roots?
I suspect we begin to rot from the roots up when we source ourselves in wrong things. We all too easily find ourselves turning to lesser fountains to quench our thirst: fame, notoriety, wealth, comfort, entertainment, pride, pleasure or power. We start sipping from contaminated sources and the poison leeches up into our systems.
We are designed to drink deeply from living water, but our world is busy and bustling, distracting and disorienting. What we really require is far beyond the usual fare and totally out of step with others.
Read that beverage list again, but this time note your soul’s thirst for the following: fame, notoriety, wealth, comfort, entertainment, pride, pleasure and power. Which refreshments call out to your frame? What are you most likely to partake in?
Jesus reminds us, the is not the time for pretend piousness. He wants us to take an actual inventory. What bottle do we turn to? Which canteen do we upend? It’s crucial to know our crutch, to identify the contaminated well(s) we are most conditioned to return to.
Drinking from dirty cisterns will rot our roots. Just like that fig tree between Bethany and Jerusalem, we’ll shrivel away from our Source, fail to produce fruit and find ourselves marked for destruction. Our disinterest in the things of God will result in distance from Him forever. We must re-source ourselves in Christ, determined to drink deeply from the living water that He alone offers.
“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scriptures has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37 NIV)
We can choose to focus our thirst on the One who actually satisfies. As we begin to put our roots down in Him, drinking deeply from His living waters, we tap into the Kingdom. Then, and only then, do the living waters begin to flow through us. It’s a humbling thing, to move from being in dire need ourselves to being able to offer something life-giving to others. Everything we need is sourced in Christ. When we root ourselves in Him, determining Him to be the sole satisfaction of our thirst, we are transformed with each swallow.
“So then, just as you received Christ as Lord Jesus, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
(Colossians 2:6-7 NIV)
Lord, today we see our tendency to drink from stagnant cisterns. A little contamination goes a long way in destroying our root system. Help us identify our particular poison and avoid it as the life threat it truly is. Instead, give us stamina to run our roots down deep in You. Help us develop a taste for living water alone. Ruin us for anything less. Flow through our frames, purifying, renewing and eventually blessing those around us. Amen.