Matthew 20
13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
There are many time when I let the world shape my views on expectations or my "wants". I need to learn to be content with what God has blessed me with keeping the above in mind.
Matthew 21
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
I wonder why the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree is followed by having faith to move mountains... There are very few instances in the bible where Jesus seems mad and I wonder why he cursed the fig tree. Though I do not understand what Jesus was thinking, I think it is safe to pray that I be fruitful so that I will not be cursed. I think John says that unfruitful branches are cut off and burned. So I need to be fruitful and encourage others to be fruitful as well.
