Dear Friends,
Being a lover of figs, Brown Turkey Figs especially, I was thinking of late season figs the other day; wishing for a few of the really sweet ones to remind me of how good they were when the heat of summer ripened them in large numbers. My mother taught me to make preserves when we had fresh fruit, so we always have a few jars of fig jam to top a hot biscuit later in the winter, but I really prefer my figs fresh off the tree.
I also noticed that not only the figs that were closest to the main root of the tree were the first ripe ones of the season, but they are also the sweetest. Out toward the end of the branches, some of the figs stayed green and inedible throughout the summer. Although a few of these will ripen in the first cool snap of the season, most will never mature; they just fall to the ground withered and sour. Some people are like figs in that way.
Jesus used figs for a rather startling example in Matthew 21:19 “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.”
As his disciples, we are supposed to bear fruit in the form of our working to advance the Kingdom of God by telling others about Jesus; then helping them to mature in their faith. John 15:8 “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Like the fig tree, we have a season to produce in, and, unfortunately, it often seems much too short. If the Lord came to your door tonight to inspect your fruit, would He find it sweet and filling? Or perhaps He would find nothing to satisfy his hunger.
With all our economic and political troubles, and with very little hope of a speedy recovery for our country, a cool snap has hit America. Like the fig tree that recognized in its biology the soon coming end of its season and started ripening its last fruit, many people have started a last-ditch effort to produce some fruit of their own. Happily, the late ripening fruit is just as sweet as the figs that ripen early, but the green fig that was so far from the root will soon fall to the ground with no more chance to ripen.
If you know some one who looks a little green in their spirit person, tell them about Jesus. The main difference between the fig tree and us is that, unlike the fig tree, with a little effort we can all move our fruit closer to the root of the tree to mature before it is too late. (That root, of course, is Jesus. Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”)
Sadly, another difference between figs and people is that the never ripening green figs do not face an eternity in hell.
In His Grip,
Will Dallas