The Fig Tree
 
        And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.  And presently the fig tree withered away.  Matthew 21:19
 
    It was not the season for ripe figs, except in certain localities; and on the highlands about Jerusalem it might truly be said, "The time of figs was not yet."  But in the orchard to which Jesus came, one tree appeared to be in advance of all the others.  It was already covered with leaves.  It is the nature of the fig tree that before the leaves open, the growing fruit appears.  Therefore this tree in full leaf gave promise of well-developed fruit.  But its appearance was deceptive.  Upon searching its branches, from the lowest bough to the topmost twig, Jesus found "nothing but leaves."  It was a mass of pretentious foliage, nothing more.
 
    Christ uttered against it a withering curse.  "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever,' He said.  The next morning, as the Saviour and His disciples were again on their way to the city, the blasted branches and drooping leaves attracted their attention.  "Master," said Peter, "behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away."...
 
    That barren tree, flaunting its pretentious foliage in the very face of Christ, was a symbol of the Jewish nation.  All the trees in the fig orchard were destitute of fruit; but the leafless trees raised no expectation, and caused no disappointment.  By these trees the Gentiles were represented. (The Desire of Ages, 581)
 
Reflection:  Are we like the Jews back in Christ's day?  Do we profess to be Christians when our actions are far from it?  Today, let us live what we profess.

Mustard Seed
 
        And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Matthew 17:20
 
    The nine disciples were yet pondering upon the bitter fact of their own failure; and when Jesus was once more alone with them, they questioned, "Why could not we cast him out?"  Jesus answered them, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.  Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."  Their unbelief, that shut them out from deeper sympathy with Christ, and the carelessness with which they regarded the sacred work committed to them, had caused their failure in the conflict with the powers of darkness.
 
    In order to succeed in such a conflict they must come to the work in a different spirit.  Their faith must be strengthened by fervent prayer, and fasting, and humiliation of heart.  They must be emptied of self, and be filled with the Spirit and power of God.  Earnest, persevering supplication to God in faith--faith that leads to entire dependence upon God, and unreserved consecration to His work--can alone avail to bring men the Holy Spirit's aid in the battle against principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of tis world, and wicked spirits in high places. (The Desire of Ages, 429-431)
 
Reflection:  Do you have a "mountain" in your life today?  Pray with faith, knowing that God will do exactly as He says he will do, and then act upon it.

Find Rest
 
        Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.  Matthew 11:28-30
 
    The yoke is an instrument of service.  Cattle are yoked for labor, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually.  By this illustration Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last.  We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be co-workers with Him....
 
    Our Lord desires them to lay aside this yoke of bondage.  He invites them to accept His yoke; He says, "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  He bids them seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and His promise is that all things needful to them for this life shall be added.  Worry is blind, and cannot discern future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning.  In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief.  Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us, of which we know nothing.  Those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God supreme will find perplexities vanish, and a plain path before their feet. (The Desire of Ages, 329, 330)
 
Reflection:  Oh, to know that with Jesus all things are possible!  Christ loves us so much He will yoke up with us to help with anything we need.  He is knocking today at your heart's door.  Will you let Him come into your heart?  Let's be yoked today with Him and see our perplexities vanish to reveal a plain path before our feet.

 Confess or Deny Christ
 
        Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.  Matthew 10:32, 33
 
    He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him.  He cannot communicate that which he has not received.  The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, they might repeat the words of Christ Himself; but unless they possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing Him.  A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession.  Men may deny Christ by evilspeaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind.  They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful pleasure.  They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness.  In all these ways they declare that Christ is not in them.  And "whosoever shall deny Me before men,' He says, "him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.' (The Desire of Ages, 357)
 
Reflection:  Our only safety is to be like Jesus!  We do this by reading His word--the Bible--which became flesh that we might have the perfect exmple to follow.  Let's pray we will not deny Christ in whatever we do or say today.

 The Golden Rule
 
        Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.  Matthew 7:12
 
    The golden rule is the principle of true courtesy, and its truest illustration is seen in the life and character of Jesus.  Oh, what rays of softness and beauty shone forth in the daily life of our Saviour!  What sweetness flowed from His very presence!  The same spirit will be revealed in His children. Those with whom Christ dwells will be surrounded with a divine atmosphere.  Their white robes of purity will be fragrant with perfume from the garden of the Lord.  Their faces will reflect light from His, brightening the path for stumbling and weary feet.
 
    But there is a yet deeper significance to the golden rule.  Everyone who has been made a steward of the manifold grace of God is called upon to impart to souls in ignorance and darkness, even as, were he in their place, he would desire them to impart to him.  The apostle Paul said, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise" (Romans 1:14).  By all that you have known of the love of God, by all that you have received of the rich gifts of His grace above the most benighted and degraded soul upon the earth are you in debt to that soul to impart these gifts unto him. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 135)
 
Reflection:  We can't forget that when we take the name "Christian" it means much more then going to church.  Our very presence will reflect Jesus.  This is a serious responsibility, and not optional.  But, oh, what an awesome privilege.

Kingdom First
 
        But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Matthew 6:23
 
    The people who listened to the words of Christ were still anxiously watching for some announcement of the earthly kingdom.  While Jesus was opening to them the treasures of heaven, the question uppermost in many minds was, How will a connection with Him advance our prospects iin the world?  Jesus shows that in making the things of the world their supreme anxiety they were like the heathen nations about them, living as if there were no God, whose tender care is over His creatures.
 
    "All these things," said Jesus, "do the nations of the world seek after."  "Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Luke 12:30; Matthew 6:32, 33).  I have come to open to you the kingdom of love and righteousness and peace.  Open your hearts to receive this kingdom, and make its service your highest interest.  Though it is a spiritual kingdom, fear not that your needs for this life will be uncared-for.  If you give yourself to God's service, He who has all power in heaven and earth will provide for your needs. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 98, 99)
 
Reflection:  We all know that when we die we don't take anything with us.  We need to take care of ourselves and families, but without Christ being the first, last, and best in everything, we will end up without a Savior.

Cannot Have Two Masters
 
        No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or he will hold to the one, and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  Matthew 6:24
 
    Christ does not say that man will not or shall not serve two masters, but that he cannot.  The interests of God and the interests of mammon have no union or sympathy.  Just where the conscience of the Christian warns him to forbear, to deny himself, to stop, just there the worldling steps over the line, to indulge his selfish propensities.  On one side of the line is the self-denying follower of Christ; on the other side is the self-indulgent world lover, pandering to fashion, engaging in frivolity, and pampering himself in forbidden pleasure.  On that side of the line the Christian cannot go.
 
    No one can occupy a neutral position; there is no middle class, who neither love God nor serve the enemy of righteousness.  Christ is to live in His human agents and work through their faculties and act through their capabilities.  Their will must be submitted to His will; they must act with His Spirit.  Then it is no more they that live, but Christ that lives in them.  He who does not give himself wholly to God is under the control of another power, listening to another voice, whose suggestions are of an entirely different character. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 93, 94)
 
Reflection:  How often we want to be Christians but still live like the world.  This is impossible.  We even have pastors today telling us it's okay to sin.  We must not be fooled by anyone who says we can do anything as long as we love Jesus.  It's either all or nothing.  Let's give all of ourselves today to the Author and Finisher of our Faith--Jesus Christ.

 Treasures in Heaven
 
        But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.  Matthew 6:20
 
    Treasure laid up on earth will not endure, thieves break through and seal; moth and rust corrupt; fire and storm sweep away your possessions.  And "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  Treasure laid up on the earth will engross the mind to the exclusion of heavenly things.
   
     The love of money was the ruling passion of the Jewish age.  Worldliness usurped the place of God and religion in the soul.  So it is now.  Avaricious greed for wealth exerts such a fascinating, bewitching influence over the life that it results in perverting the nobility and corrupting the humanity of men until they are drowned in perdition.  The service of Satan is full of care, perplexity, and wearing labor, and the treasure men toil to accumulate on earth is only for a season.
 
    Jesus said, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 88, 89)
 
Reflection:  This treasure that we lay up in heaven is nothing we have, or will have, on this earth--as far as material things go.  The only thing we take to heaven with us is our character.  Character is made of our thoughts and feelings.  This character which takes our lifetime to build will in the end be a noble character or an evil one.  Today, let's put some character treasure in the heavenly bank.

Fasting
 
        Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.  Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face.  Matthew 6:16, 17
 
    The fasting which the word of God enjoins is something more than a form.  It does not consist merely in refusing food, in wearing sackcloth, in sprinkling ashes upon the head.  He who fasts in real sorrow for sin will never court display.  The object of the fast which God calls upon us to keep is not to afflict the body for the sin of the soul, but to aid us in perceiving the grievous character of sin, in humbling the heart before God and receiving His pardoning grace.  His command to Israel was, "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God" (Joel 2:13).
 
    It will avail nothing for us to do penance or to flatter ourselves that by our own works we shall merit or purchase an inheritance among the saints.  When the question was asked Christ, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?"  He answered, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent" (John 6:28, 29).  Repentance is turning from self to Christ; and when we receive Christ so that through faith He can live His life in us, good works will be manifest. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 87)
 
Reflection:  We cannot live a long time without food.  It's necessary to sustain life.  When we fast, we are telling ourselves--for Christ already knows--that this specific issue is so important that we are willing to forgo food.  Hunger pangs remind us over and over again how much we need the Lord in this particular situation.