The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 6 April 2020 – TOPIC: GREEN BUT FRUITLESS

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DATE: MONDAY, APRIL 06, 2020
TOPIC: GREEN BUT FRUITLESS
READ: MATTHEW 21:18-27 (NIV)

18. Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry.
19. 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.
20. And when the disciples saw [it,] they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”
21. So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.
22. “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
23. Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?”
24. But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25. “The baptism of John — where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26. “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
27. So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

THE MESSAGE:

Jesus was hungry and saw a fig tree full of green leaves. He expected to find some fruits in that tree, but alas, no single fruit was found. Jesus cursed that tree and it withered immediately. He said “may you never bear fruit again”. This pronouncement was warranted by the fact that the tree had green leaves – an appearance of fruitfulness – but was fruitless. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees to produce fruit that showed repentance. He also warned that the axe was laid at the root of the tree and any tree that did not bear good fruit would be cut down (Matthew 3:8-10).This was the same problem that Jesus had with the Pharisees that made Him pronounce curses on them. He called them white-washed sepulchers that looked beautiful on the outside but were full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean, on the inside (Matthew 23:27-28).

Hypocrisy, a serious problem in the church today, always attracts the wrath of God. We need to repent of sinful lifestyles covered with an appearance of spirituality.

PRAYER: Lord deliver Your Church from fruitlessness coated with an appearance of godliness.