Mark 11:20–25 (ESV) —
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
NOTE: In this story, we have already seen that the objects in the story are symbolic, since it was not the time for figs. The fig tree represents Israel, and Israel has been cursed by God for failure to recognize the time of Jesus' coming. If the first part is symbolic, I believe we can assume the remainder is symbolic too. We are never told to throw mountains into the sea. Rather, the mountains are obstacles to advancing the gospel. God can open any door and God can change any heart. Ultimately, a person chooses to believe or not according to their free will, but we can pray for an opportunity to share with any person. This year is a new year to ask God to move mountains so that we can share with that friend or neighbor who seems so closed to the truth of Jesus.
PONDER:
Who do I know that is closed to the gospel? I need to add him to my prayer list this year.
PRAYER: Father, I pray for boldness and opportunities to share my faith and my story with others. I pray that my witness would be such that it would augment my conversion story in a positive way.
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