When the Lord approaches your bush of figs

I would like to share something with you today that in some way or another inspired me by the message that the pastor shared last Sunday, I don't know how many of you were here on Sunday, but the pastor was talking about this passage from Mark, Chapter 11 that talk about this moment in which Jesus met the fig tree and that he cursed the fig tree because he found no fruit on it.

As he was preaching an impression came to my mind that I hadn't considered before and I wanted to share some of those things with you because I think there are some secrets in there that we can learn from them.

If you can look up that book, that passage from Mark, Chapter 11, we are going to read from verse 12 to 14 and I can tell you something, my brothers, perhaps this idea, this impression that I am going to share with you, maybe exegetically or In a theological way I am going out of line with the parameters that many Biblical commentators may say, but you know what? There are times when I believe that this is one of the beauties of the Bible as well.

I say this because I have studied, that is, I have spent time, energy, money on studies and I know how many times Biblical studies can focus one too much on seeing the Bible from a specific framework, but I believe that the The Bible has that life, that vitality of the spirit that, without necessarily straying from the principles that are locked up there, we can receive and learn some things that God himself wants to let us know.

While I was meditating on this, I thought, all of us in one way or another, all of us, I am going to say something very important, all of us in one way or another are well used to the fact that God is always available to meet our needs. How many can say yes to that? Obviously, many times, or most of the time, we learn this from the Scriptures, that is, whoever approaches God must approach believing that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. We believe that, that God is always there ready to meet our needs, we sing many times, "Ah, I am hungry for you, for your presence, for your fragrance, for your power, hunger that hurts..."

You've heard that song, right? Hunger that hurts... sometimes in songs we get very tragic. How many have been hungry that really hurts? and at some point we have said to God, Lord, I am hungry that it hurts for you and for your presence to be with you. And we have said it in prayer and there are times that we approach that prayer like, no, Lord, you have to satisfy this hunger now, if you don't do it now I'll die. We get very novel with God, very tragic, very dramatic at times.

But what if in some song we have thought or considered the following: that if God were hungry for us, we would be available to satisfy him? Have you ever thought about that? If God is hungry for you, would you be willing, available to satisfy that hunger? Would we be available to satisfy that hunger that God has?

Turn with me to Mark, Chapter 11, verse 12 to 14, it says:

“…The next day when they were leaving Bethany Jesus felt hungry…”

This divine being, this Son of God who was made man, felt something that we feel every day and sometimes up to three times a day, some feel it 4 or 5 times a day, but normal people feel it 3 times a day. , and 3 times a night. So:

“…Jesus was hungry and in the distance he saw a fig tree that had leaves and he approached to see if it would also have fruit, if perhaps it would have fruit. But when he got to it he found nothing but leaves because it was not the time for figs. Then Jesus told the fig tree that no one will ever eat your fruit again and his disciples heard him when he said that..."

You know that I couldn't help but laugh when the pastor said Sunday as if he were that fig tree, but what's my fault if not fig time? Why are you going to curse me? And it made it more interesting to me because one of those biblical commentators that I was reading dared to write criticizing that action of Jesus saying, why did Jesus spend his divine power to curse that bush or that tree when he could very easily have used its divine power and bring it to fruition at the moment.

That makes one think. Why is he going to use divine power to curse instead of using his divine power to bless this fig tree so that it bears fruit even when it was not time to bear fruit? Interesting, right? there are times when one reads those things and it's like… it makes one think.

But look what it made me think. I remember that the pastor mentioned, and I very much agree with this, and many commentators also agree and if I do exegesis with you, the place where that passage Mark located this illustration with the fig tree, it happened at a very critical moment in that parliament there, because on the one hand it can be interpreted as that this gesture that Jesus made symbolizes a time of judgment that was going to come on the people of Israel, on the Jews. And how do we know this? Because in the previous verses it is seen that when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem one of the first things he did was go to the temple. And when he entered the temple, what did he do? If you look at the text can you teach verse 10? Verse 10 says that Jesus entered the temple and what he did was that he began to look.

“…And Jesus entered Jerusalem and the temple and having looked around at all things as it was already evening, he went to Bethany with the 12…”

So, it's like Jesus went to investigate and saw everything that was happening in the temple. If we look at verse 15, can we please look at verse 15? Look what verse 15 says:

“…So they came to Jerusalem and when Jesus entered the temple, what happened? He began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves..."

And there the story continues. It's one of those moments where we kind of say the screws came loose on Jesus and he went crazy. And he began to get everyone out of there with a blow, with a stick. That is why this story of the fig tree, when it is seen there in the middle of these two things, what it was exemplifying or symbolizing is that this action of Jesus to try to clean the temple what he was manifesting was that a hard time was coming. for the people of Israel because they were not doing things as God commanded.

So exegetically that account of the fig tree reads like this. A second way that is also read is that Jesus wanted to give his disciples a lesson on what prayer of faith is, because after that story, if you go to verse 20, look how he says:

"... And passing by in the morning they saw that the fig tree had withered from the roots, then Peter, remembering, said to him, ─ "Master, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered." And what did Jesus say to him? He told him, "Have faith in God, for truly I say to you, whoever says this mountain, take off and throw yourself into the sea, and he will not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will be done, what he says will be done to him... ”

So, it can also be exemplified that what happened with the fig tree was a way of Jesus teaching his disciples, look, if you do something, if you say something, if you ask for something with faith, it will happen. Now, after I do that exegetical analysis that I already see that you are falling asleep, let me throw you the nitty-gritty now. This was what I understand that the Lord impressed me.

I want you to visualize that scene. Jesus walking through those streets hungry, maybe even the disciples heard his stomach rumbling. And it's like, guys, I'm hungry, this is serious, we're going to have to stop for a hot dog or something somewhere because I'm hungry. And he sees this fig tree and he approaches and goes to look. Look what the story says:

“…When it arrived, it found no fruit…”

And look what God made me think. God made me think about the following: there are times when God is hungry for us and he sees us from afar, he sees us and many times he approaches us in our routine of life, in the things we are doing, he approaches us and sees our foliage, he sees us that above it seems that we are fine, but God knows what is really there, and he approaches us and begins to search among the leaves and where is the fruit? Where is the essence of what this tree is? You tell me you are an apple tree but I don't see apples. You tell me you are a pear tree but I don't see pears. You tell me that you are an orange tree but I don't see oranges. You tell me you are a fig tree but I don't see figs. What happened?

you know? The human tendency in this matter, when something is expected of us and we cannot give it, our tendency is to respond with these justifications, not to mention excuses, oh, I didn't know I had to do that. Or else we also say, oh, no, I'm not ready for that. Or we simply say, it is not my time to respond to such a demand. As the text says, it was not the time of figs. Come where am I going? It was not the time.

As you can see, we are very quick to justify ourselves, especially when it has to do with the fact that we give our time in life, time in different ways. When he talks about family time, when he talks about your time at work, when he talks about your time off that some are very jealous of their time off, or when it's time to go to church, like we're doing today, or when it is time to relax, or when it is time to play and have fun. But how about the time we give to God?

How about the time we give to God? You know the Bible teaches us that everything has its time. What does Ecclesiastes say, Chapter 3? Can someone tell me what Ecclesiastes says, Chapter 3? Says:

“…Everything has its time and everything that is wanted under heaven has its time. There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to destroy and a time to build, a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to throw out and a time to dance. …”

I liked that, right? So, just in case, if someone says that it's not biblical to dance, you can quote that passage there. OK?

“…There is a time to scatter stones and there is a time to gather the stones, there is a time to embrace and there is a time to refrain from embracing, there is a time to look for something and there is a time to lose something, there is a time to save and there is a time to discard, a time to break and a time to sew, a time to be silent… ─and many times that time is one that many of us have to put more into practice,─ a time to be silent and a time to speak… ─we also have to monitor it a lot─, there is a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace…”

Look what verse 11 says, I liked this verse:

“…God made everything beautiful in his time and has put eternity in their hearts… ─this is from us, human beings─ without man being able to understand the work that God has done from the beginning to the end. I have known that there are no better things for them than to rejoice and do good in their life and also that it is where God that every man or woman eats and drinks and enjoys the good of all their work..."

Everything has its time. How are we monitoring our time? It is a question that I can ask. How are we managing our time? But above all things how we are responding to the fact of the time that God wants to work in the midst of our lives.

There is another text, Romans Chapter 13 that I also want to read to you. Romans Chapter 13, verse 11, look how it says:

“…And this knowing the time that it is now time to get up from sleep because now his salvation is closer to us than when we believed. The night is advanced and the day approaches, so let us discard the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light. Let us all walk honestly as in the day, not in gluttony and drunkenness, not in lust and lasciviousness, not in strife and envy, but clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ and do not provide for the desires of the flesh..."

There are many people that when the Lord approaches his fig bush, so to speak, we justify saying no, it's not my time, I want to continue enjoying the good life, I want to continue enjoying my friendships, I want to continue enjoying the part of Corona that I can give myself on weekends with my friends. I want to continue enjoying the fact of being able to use my eyes to contemplate the beauty of God's creation in women, I am not ready to leave that yet. Or in the man, in the case of a woman. I want to keep using my time to talk bad to everyone I want to intimidate people so I can hide my own insecurities. I want to continue using my time to take advantage of the money I earn and spend it on my own pleasures. I still have a BMW that I want to buy and until I have the BMW I'm not going to give my time to God. Until I get the house I'm looking for, I'm not going to give my time to God. I am still very young and that is for old people. So until I am 65 years old I am not going to give my time to God, forgive me those who are 65 years old here.

We justify ourselves and say, no, it is not time, it is not time for figs, it is not time for that fruit that you are looking for. God, you are hungry, you are hungry for me but it is not time yet for me to give you what you are wanting from me.

There is another text in Second Corinthians, Chapter 6, verse 2 that we also know that says this:

"...In an acceptable time I have heard you and in a day of salvation I have helped you, behold now the acceptable time, behold now the day of salvation..."

Word of God, my brothers. Words of God. That first part that says, “in acceptable time I have heard you and in a day of salvation I have helped you”, do you know what that means? When you were hungry, I was there. When you fell and scraped your knee, I was there. When you were crying because your boyfriend or girlfriend left you, I was there wanting to be your boyfriend or your girlfriend. When you got laid off from work, when you went to the bar to drink your sorrows and vent, I was there drinking a glass of water with you.

In an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation, this part, on the day of salvation, means like on the day that something new was going to begin, I was the one who helped you, here is now the time that touches you , behold now the day of your salvation. Here is now the moment that God has such a great hunger for his people, for his sons and daughters as never before. God is hungry for humanity, God is hungry for you and me, God is hungry for his creation not to be lost but rather for them to acquire the life that he has for each one of us.

God has a hunger to see his sons and daughters living a fruitful, abundant life and not mediocrity. God has a hunger to let each of us know the secrets he holds in his heart. God is hungry to hear us say, Dad, thank you for everything you give me, instead of, oooh, they don't want me!! Do not come with the same song again, oh, Lord, they hit me in the back! If you keep behaving like that, they're going to keep hitting you in the back.

God is hungry. And he's not hungry for rice and beans, chops and good yellows or good maduros. That is not the hunger that God has. He's hungry for you, for you, for spending time with you. Not just hearing your cry, but just hearing you say thank you, Lord, thank you, Dad, for what you are, for what you mean, for what you do in my life. Thank you for what you are doing in the world. Thank you because you remain faithful to your promises, because even when we turn from you, you remain firm.

Look how interesting this Orthodox Jew was here last night that the pastor had announced, Aria Abramowicz, and he was talking about the people of Israel and what better to hear about the people of Israel from an orthodox Israelite himself. And he himself says that one of the things that Israel has in its favor is that no matter how many times the people of Israel are so stubborn that they turn their backs on God, with all God they will remain faithful to their promises, as all God is going to remain faithful to the pacts that he has made with this people since the years of the guácara, of Abraham. God remains faithful with everything.

The same happened to us. We can continue saying, no, Lord, it is not time. It is not my time to give figs, it is not my time to take you seriously. It is not my time to abandon my behavior to accept the behavior that you want me to do, it is not my time to stop thinking in the way that I have learned for the 30, 40, 50 years of my life, to adopt a new way of thinking. It is not my time yet to be speaking bad behind the back of another instead of speaking well in front of people and in front and behind, in front and in all places to speak well as you want me to do. It's not my time to do those things because those things are boring, I prefer to live my interesting life than gossiping about others all the time.

We give those obstacles to God. And look, maybe I asked myself, Lord, what does this mean? Are we then going to end up like the fig tree? Are we going to end up all dry from the roots? Not necessarily. Obviously, if we insist on continuing to live our time and not in God's time, we are running the risk of drying up from the roots. And unfortunately I know that there are people who are drying up at the root. There are people whose roots are medium ─ what word can I say that sounds fine? ─ dried roots, thank you. Dehydrated roots, I liked that. There are people who are like this, my brothers, and the bad thing is that many times we don't want to admit it. Ah, but if I have leaves, look at how good I look with my leaves. Leaves for what? The most important thing is the fruit that you can give, not necessarily the leaves.

And that is what God hungers for us. God hungers to see us live lives that are fruitful, that demonstrate the fruit of the spirit, that demonstrate that love, that demonstrate that peace, that demonstrate lives of faithfulness, of integrity, that demonstrate a meek character, a forgiving character.

Those are the things that God is looking for, those are the things that God is hungry for, that we are not a people that praise him with our lips but that our hearts are far from him. God doesn't want that. God wants a people, God is hungry for a people who focus more on God from the heart than merely from the lips.

Look, my brothers, I tell you, while I was making this message something trembled inside me. When I heard the pastor's message on Sunday, look, the conviction of the spirit sank deep into my heart. Think about that question, how is the basement of your house? How is the attic of your house, the places that are not seen? I think of my basement in my house, and I say, my basement is fine, but there are times when it smells damp and when it smells damp you have to turn on the humidifier to make those bad smells go away, again, the leaves can be seen OK, but there are things further inside, below that you don't see, that aren't right.

And look, I mean this, my brothers, the first thing my wife and I did when we moved into our house in Randolph, was that we, as they say, we ripped out, ripped out the entire basement. And so much so that we discovered a termite nest in the basement. Imagine that, when we saw that like…. I have seen those little things moving on the wall, on the floor, and I nooooo! I bought a house with termites, why didn't that come up in the inspection?

And that was a project of months, to redo the basement, and the basement is now habitable. My in-laws stay there, thank God they are in the basement and I am upstairs in my room, amen. We have a floor that divides us. Relax, I love my in-laws, believe me, I love my in-laws. Thanks to my in-laws that my basement is as it is, because he was the one who took vacations without power and helped us work with the basement.

Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear, that's all I'm going to say. But look why I say this. Because to my eyes my basement seems to be fine, but I know that there are things that are still half rotten, that still need to be dealt with. There are many people who, according to their times, believe that their lives are fine. Ah, everything is tidy, the curtains are fine, in their place, we pass the vacum, things like that, so everything looks apparently clean. But it really isn't.

God is hungry for us and he is not looking for leaves to hide under. He is looking for fruit from which he can feed and feed that relationship that unites us with him. This is the time, my brothers, we are living in a time where God is seeking to connect even more with us.

So I tell you, the Lord Jesus is walking near you and he is hungry and he sees you from afar. He says, oh, look at that little tree, how beautiful, look how beautiful. Let me come over and see if you have anything I can eat. Do you have something to offer the Lord? Do I have something to offer the Lord? Let's think about this, my brothers.

And what's more, I dare to pray this way. As that passage from Second Corinthians said, this is the day of salvation. This could be the day where today you can say to the Lord Jesus, “Lord Jesus, look, maybe my tree has no fruit, but I want it to bear fruit and you are the only one who can allow that fruit to bear fruit. I don't want anymore. The fact that my life is only a tree through which you pass and that you cannot get anything out of it. I want to be able to bear fruit.”

Ask yourself tonight if he approaches you looking for fruit, can you give it? And if not, you know what? He wants you to be able to meet him. He is not going to curse your fig tree. No. he wants to bless you. He wants your fig tree to bear fruit in season and out of season. That is another passage. In Timothy he says that, and one always has to be ready on time and out of time because one never knows when Jesus is going to arrive hungry, wanting to look for one in us so that he will not be surprised by what... wait. , this is not ready, what happened? We are ready? We are willing to have the time to say, Lord, look, put your hand in this bush that there is something that you can take to satisfy yourself.

The person who can say that is the person who is in a direct relationship with the Lord Jesus. If I am a person who has lived without giving God time, at least the time he deserves, I am not going to be able to bear that kind of fruit. My fruit is going to be different, it is going to be a bitter, sour fruit, that person who puts his tooth in it will roll his tongue.

But God wants us to bear sweet fruit, and for that fruit to bear, our lives have to be totally connected with it. So I want to take a moment tonight to pray about it. If any of us, my brothers, need to reconnect with God again so that he can nourish our lives in such a way that we can bear fruit, something that when he hungers for us, that we can say, "Lord, eat, here there is. You can count on me."

I want to pray for you. so in all confidence, where you are, if these words have echoed in your heart, stand up and we will pray for you.

Dear God, I thank you for your word. Thank you Lord, because you are the one who allows our lives to bear good fruit, Lord. But Father, look, I also recognize that many times we are either not ready or we think we are not ready or we do not want to be ready, that we have so many other things in mind, but you approach us with longing, with the desire to see something in our lives, to try something, to take something from our lives.

And what greater satisfaction than that we can satisfy you, Lord. So Lord, look tonight I present myself together with my brothers and sisters and if at some point we have said that it is not our time, Lord, but you are telling us that it is, Father, look, bring conviction to our hearts so that then we can turn to you completely, and let you be the one who produces fruit in the midst of our lives.

Father, right now, Lord, I ask you to give us that weight in our hearts, my God, of the things to which we are giving more time than others, Lord, yes, if we are giving more time than our interests that yours, Lord, look, correct us and put us on the path we should be. Help us, Lord, to align our steps with you, help us to be able to find time with you, Lord, in the midst of our busy schedules, however our schedules may look like, but always, Lord, in some way in our mind, in our heart, in our spirit, Lord, we can have that connection with you that nourishes our lives and that in this way we can bear fruit, not only for you but also for others around us.

Lord Jesus, we ask you to forgive us, my God, I ask that you also forgive us for the many times that we have given you excuses, excuses that have no reason, forgive us and allow our eyes and hearts to open in this time, Lord , that they open up in this time of salvation, in this time of new beginnings, in this time of beginnings that are going to launch us into new dimensions with you, Lord.

You are on the path of our lives and you are hungry, you wish that we could respond to you. Put in us both wanting and doing, so that we are not flimsy Christians, that we are not boring Christians, but that we are passionate, radical Christians, Lord, on fire for you and for you, Lord.

I ask your blessing on each one of my brothers and sisters, Lord, I ask that you keep them and that these words on which we have meditated and reflected, Lord, that these words continue to echo in each of their hearts Lord Jesus, your word is life, your word is real, Lord. To some this word can say one thing and to others it can say another, but Lord, let it be a message that comes from you and that we can respond to that message.

Bless your sons and daughters tonight, I ask you please, Jesus, pour out your blessing on us, Lord. Father, and that just as we hunger and thirst for you, at every moment, Lord, that you come closer than us, that we too may have the ability to satisfy your longing and your desire for us too, Jesus.

Thanks we give you. Bless us Lord, as we leave here, from this place, take us safely to our homes, Jesus, and may your word continue to echo in the midst of our lives and hearts, Lord, and may it move us to action, may it let us not only remain with knowledge but those words move us to action, to a life more devoted and dedicated to you, we ask this in the name of your Son Jesus whom we love and give him all the glory and honor. Amen.