Mark 11:21 | “Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

I came across this story of the fig tree a few days ago, during morning devotion. Jesus was hungry, and saw this promising fig tree. He expected to get some fruits from it, but when he didn’t, He cursed the tree.

I had often wondered at the crime of the poor fig tree. Why did Jesus curse it? It wasn’t a case of punishment for unfruitfulness as some propound, because the scripture clearly states that “it was not yet the season for figs.”

Mark 11:13 | “Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs.”

So, could it be a case of misplaced aggression – like a hungry man being an angry man? Well, that’s kind of out of character for Jesus that we know. Or was he showing His disapproval for showiness and hypocrisy? Because the fig tree was said to be leafy, and boomed as if it had fruits, while it had none.

Well, the Holy Spirit showed us that the entire fig story was merely a stunt pulled by Jesus, to get the attention of His disciples. Huh? Yes! His chief aim was to teach them a lesson on having faith in God, albeit, in a dramatic and unforgettable manner.

So, Jesus said something. (He cursed the fig tree.) All his disciples heard him. But only Peter remembered it, on their way back the following day. Only him made a connection between the withered tree and the curse. And Jesus, at this point siezes the opportunity to pass across his lesson – “have faith in God.”

Peter remembered because he obviously paid the most attention to Jesus and to His words. Little wonder he was chosen as the head.

Do we still remember all the signs and words of the Holy Spirit to us blissfuls, this period? Are we paying careful attention to them? If we don’t pay attention to what God says to us, and have no regard for what happens as a result, we will never be intimate with Him. We will drift into other fantasies and fallacies.

Hebrews 2:1 | “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

But we can only pay attention to things that are of interest to us. Like Peter, the Psalmist considers God’s word as “more desirable and precious than pure gold, and sweeter than honey from the comb.”

Is God more desirable to you than everything and everyone else? Does He genuinely interest you and gets your attention swiftly, and at will?

Prayer | Precious Holy Spirit! Please, create in me a pure heart. A heart that loves just You, and a heart that is genuinely interested in You, so that I can effortlessly pay more careful attention to You. Amen!