Mensa Otabil - God Abhors Fruitlessness
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Welcome to a brand new week. We’ve been discussing fruitfulness since last week, and we will continue this week, focusing on fruitfulness. We’ve covered several factors related to living a fruitful life, including the fact that the earth itself is fruitful, that God has given us seeds to sow, which are our talents, our gifts, His grace, and His investment in us. We’ve talked about how we can make our lives fruitful and God’s command for us to be fruitful.
Now we are examining how God sees us when we do not act or live a fruitful life. In Matthew 21, verse 19, it states, «And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And said to it, 'Let no fruit grow on you ever again.' Immediately, the fig tree withered away.» It is striking to see what Jesus did to this fig tree because it seems uncharacteristic of Him. Why do I say that? Jesus was known for miracles; miracles were the hallmark of His life and ministry. When you look at the ministry of Jesus, you see many miracles. In His miracles, He takes something bad and makes it good. He takes something that is not doing well and makes it flourish. The sick become healed, and the blind see. He does not exacerbate a situation; when there is a storm, He calms it. That is how Jesus works.
However, in this particular instance, Jesus takes a situation that is not good and makes it worse. That should puzzle us. Why was Jesus so vehemently opposed to this tree? There could be other eschatological explanations for it, but I will look at it from the surface. Why did Jesus react so strongly? Why did He look at the tree that was not bearing fruit? Why didn’t He simply command it to bear fruit? He had the power to do that, yet He denied it the chance to ever be useful again.
This is not uncommon when taking into account Jesus' parables and teachings. In the parable of the talents, we see that the person who was unproductive had his talent taken from him and given to the one who was productive. Our normal response would be to encourage someone who is unproductive, but that is not God’s approach. God does not take kindly to waste. When He commands us to be fruitful, it is a directive, and if we persist in not being fruitful, He will take from us the ability to ever be fruitful again.
That is a severe judgment on us. It means if God grants me His grace, gifts, abilities, opens doors for me, and provides opportunities, but I squander them through laziness or a lack of effort, He will take what He has given from me. That is God’s judgment. God does not coddle fruitlessness; He does not encourage it. Therefore, the warning to all of us is that if we continue living unproductive lives-squandering opportunities and misusing the gifts of God-He will deny us everything He has given us.
He took the one talent from the person who failed to use it, and He took life from this fig tree, which later withered and died on the ground because it was wasting the nutrients. If we fail to use God’s gifts to be fruitful, He may unfortunately take those gifts and abilities from us. Thus, we have no other choice but to be fruitful and maximize the opportunities that God has for us. So this week, let us be fruitful.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, make my life fruitful. Help me to use all the gifts You have given me to their fullest. In Jesus' name, amen.» May the Lord find you a very faithful and fruitful servant. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom-peace and life to you.