Matthew 21:1-22

21:19 "Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, '...No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.' And at once the tree withered"

Jesus shows contempt towards scoundrels profiting off of worshipers, priests being jealous for earthly power, and a plant appearing to be healthy but bearing no fruit. Do you sense a metaphor?

I think a lot of times we Christians thinks we can get away with murder (figuratively speaking). We know we're bound for glory and that all our sins are forgiven so we get lax in working to root out sin in our lives. Well this story is a reminder that Jesus isn't just the "holy child, meek and mild", He has a fire in His belly! If you get His ire up, your life can be miserable. That's not to say that Jesus is an unbalanced pugilist with a short fuse. He just hates sin. And He might even hate sin more when it dwells in His children. Consider this:

- We know exactly what sin did to our Savior
- We know exactly what sin does to us
- We have been called to be holy as He is holy
- We have been given the freedom to not sin
- We have been given the power to not sin

Yet we do it anyway. And like a tree with pretty leaves but no fruit, Jesus is disgusted. Thank goodness our Lord is longsuffering! And praise God for Philippians 1:6!

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

Hallelujah!

Lord, keep working on me. Help me to not be a white washed tomb. Help me to first be filled with Your Spirit and holiness, then to produce good fruit to the glory of Your name.