One Week to LIve

What would you do if you had been told on Friday you are going to encounter a major car accident that is going to take your life?  How would you spend your week?  We don’t like to think of these such scenarios.  They disrupt our hearts and cause great anxiety to begin when we ponder these thoughts.  It’s just more peaceful inside if we do not entertain such ideas.  Really, how often do you find a hospital in the middle of a shopping mall?  Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t have that option.   Jesus knew His fate.  He knew the cross was in His future.  Jesus knew His purpose.  Jesus spent His last week teaching, loving, performing miracles, and preparing His followers to be able to fly when He was no longer with them.

During Jesus’ last week, He spent time in Jerusalem during the day and at night He and His followers would spend the evenings on the Mount of Olives. (Luke 21:37) Early one morning, on His way into the city, Jesus was hungry.  He saw a fig tree in the distance and when He got to it, He realized it had no fruit.  And Jesus immediately cursed the tree by saying never again will there be fruit on you.  What does God see when He looks at you?  Does He see fruit or does He see “just leaves?”

Jesus left the fig tree and went on into town where He would spend part of His last week teaching and loving people.  Jesus then encountered money changers in the temple.  And that didn’t bless Jesus either.  He reminded the people that His house was to be a house of prayer not a den for robbers.  

It seems that the chief priests and leaders in the law were looking for ways to assassinate Jesus.  They were afraid of Him.  But the people, hung on to Jesus and His words.  Where do you find yourself today?  Do you look for ways to remove Jesus from your life or do you hang on to His words in your life?

Back to the fig tree, when the disciples saw the tree the next morning and saw that the tree had totally withered, they were amazed it had withered so quickly.  They asked Jesus how He did that.  Jesus says, I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. (Matthew 21:18-22)  

“If you have faith and do not doubt”…how often are you able to stand in faith believing His promises?  Or how often do you encounter life and instead of standing on His promises, you allow doubt to creep in your mind and heart?  It seems that often I find myself standing on God’s promises when it’s easy.  But when life gets difficult, doubt creeps in robbing me from the confidence of standing on the promises.  Money changers robbed the temple of being a house of prayer and Satan robs us when we allow Him to put doubt into our hearts.

As we go throughout this week, let’s let important events in Jesus’ life make a difference in our lives today.  May we be quick to respond to Jesus in our lives.  May we not miss Him at work in our lives because we’re not looking for Him.

What kind of a fig tree are you?  What does God see when He looks at you?  Does He see fruit or does He see “just leaves?”

Would you be religious leader or would you be a faithful follower?  Is Jesus invited with you everywhere you go?  Or are there parts of your life that Jesus is not allowed?  Are you hanging onto His word in your heart?  Do you spend time in His word or are you too busy for Him?

Are you full of faith or full of doubt?  Are you standing on the promises of God?  Or is Satan throwing doubts of disbelief in your heart?  Are you questioning whether God is good or do you know that God is good no matter what?

Are you looking for Jesus at work in your life?  Or are you missing Him because your focus is elsewhere?

During this passion week, may our passion be on loving God with all our heart and loving others and making them disciples!