Nothing But Leaves

By Donnie Bates

One day, Jesus happened upon a fig tree without fruit. Christ cursed the tree, and it withered, even though Mark's Gospel tells us that it was not the season for figs. Why would the Lord curse a tree for not producing out-of-season?

Nothing But Leaves is a collection of devotionals about growing and living as a Christian. Inspired by Jesus' parable about the fig tree, Donnie Bates offers wise, sound advice for maturing in our walk with the Lord, reminding the reader that there is no season in which we are excused from bearing good fruit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Start2Finish Books
• Release date: May 3, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524299798

Book preview

Chapter 1

NOTHING BUT LEAVES

On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, May no one ever eat fruit from you again! And His disciples were listening (Mark 11:12-14).

Can you imagine being the object of Jesus’ disappointment? What would you do, or how would you feel if you knew you had failed God, and now He’s standing before you, about to pronounce judgment? It is a terrifying thought, but we would do well to examine ourselves to see how we compare with this fig tree.

What about bearing fruit? Jesus said, My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples (John 15:8). He said we are to let our lights shine in such a way that people will see our good works and glorify our heavenly Father (Matt. 5:16). Jesus Himself practiced such (Luke 7:14-16). Everything about us should glorify God. The way we respond to life’s situations, both good and bad, should glorify Him. The way we share the gospel should glorify Him. Even the way we work should glorify God. The apostle Paul said we should work as though our boss is Christ (Col. 3:23).

In the context of John 15:8, Jesus called Himself the True Vine. Christians are the branches growing from that Vine. What, then, is the fruit? In Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. The apostle Peter says it is faith, moral excellence (virtue), knowledge, self-control, perseverance godliness, brotherly kindness and love (2 Pet. 1:5-7). A person cannot be pleasing to God without bearing fruit (2 Pet. 1:8-10).

Jesus made it clear that bearing fruit is required of disciples. God intended to create a people who would do good deeds (Tit. 2:14). Christians are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17) created for good works (Eph. 2:10). The simple fact is that if we are not performing good works, or bearing fruit, we are not His disciples.

Death is required. The more one studies the Word of God, the more evident it becomes that humility is key in the Christian life. Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). Notice that it is required that the grain of wheat fall into the ground. It cannot remain in its lofty position. We understand that we are to be humble before God (Jas. 4:10). However, many do not want to humble themselves. Those who refuse to give up their lives and stubbornly hold on, remain alone and, in the end, lose their lives anyway.

Even many Christians hesitate to show humility. We see the bumper sticker It’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect! and we laugh. However, many of us live the philosophy of It’s hard to be humble when you’re so much better than everyone else.

When we are instructed to die to self, that command is not qualified. Do you regard each of your Christian brethren as more important than yourself? If not, you are sinning, because Philippians 2:3 commands that attitude. In your relationships with your brethren, are you living for Christ or for yourself? If not for Christ, then you are sinning (Gal. 2:20). For the Christian, even one-on-one interactions involve a Third Party. In other words, when you fail to show humility to anyone, you fail to show humility to Christ (Matt. 25:41-46).

The death spoken of in John 12:24 is humility. It is dying to self. According to Paul, when we were baptized into Christ, we die to sin and our old way of living (Rom. 6:6-8). One of the most important things a Christian must do is rid himself of the idea that our death before baptism is the only time we die to self. We must die to self every day (1 Cor. 15:31). We must die to self every time life presents us with a different circumstance.

Consider death’s reward. Every living thing is involved in a struggle to survive. Regardless of what you may have heard, most of mankind wants to survive beyond death. Many today have within their grasp the knowledge of how to survive beyond death. Most people, however, consider the cost too high. The key to real survival is for one to give up his life. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it (Luke 9:24).

Just as we sometimes have difficulty remembering that we are at war because of the spiritual nature of our warfare, it is hard to see the value of spiritual life over physical life. No one likes the idea of giving up our physical lives, and most people do not like the idea of giving up their lifestyle. It is hard for people, especially people who are weaker spiritually, to resist hanging on to our lives with every ounce of strength.

There is a solution: faith. It may not seem possible to a child that if he will let go, Daddy will catch him. It takes faith on the part of the child. All of us want to survive. Death does not seem like the answer to the problem of survival, but Jesus said it is. If we will let go (lose our lives for the sake of Christ; die to self), He will catch us. The only way to survive death is to die to self and live for Christ. That will allow you to bear fruit and that will prove your discipleship.

What a terrifying thought to have Jesus inspect us and find nothing but leaves! John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:10 that the tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. That should be enough to motivate us all to make the necessary changes in our lives and start bearing fruit.

Mark says the reason the tree had no figs is that it was not the season for figs. It was not the tree’s fault! That doesn’t seem fair, does it? Why, then, was the tree punished? Remember, it is just a tree. This is not a soul that has been cast into hell, but an opportunity to teach a lesson. For the one who would be a disciple of Christ, there is no season in which we need not bear fruit. We must decide if we want to hear the same