Recently, I had a conversation about blessing and curses, which caused me to have a conversation with the Lord and ask Him what His Word says about this.
Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.
He makes human flesh his strength,
and his heart turns from the Lord.
6 He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 The person who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.
8 He will be like a tree planted by water:
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
Who Are We Trusting?
Who we place our trust in is what determines blessing and curses. Our trust determines if we are blessed or cursed. We can trust in ourselves and mankind and be cursed or trust in the God of the universe and be blessed. Trusting the Lord brings blessing and produces good things out of our lives. Trusting in ourselves and mankind brings curses and causes blindness and lonliness.
Jesus Shows Us What A Cursed Life Looks Like
Jump ahead to the New Testament, in Mark 11. The story about Jesus cursing a fig tree for not having figs when he was hungry and went to pick a fig from it, has always intrigued me.
12 The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it.
20 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”
22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
Why Would We Be Cursed?
The cursed fig tree falls in line with the blessing and curse conversation I was having. The fig tree wasn’t doing the only thing it was made to do. It didn’t have to strive or perform it just had to produce what it was given to produce in response to the God who created it. If it would have stood there with figs all over it being what it was made to be it would have been blessed. Instead it was being a fake. It didn’t give anything to God, it wasn’t producing what God created it to produce. The only thing that tree had to do was be what God created it to be. When the disciples asked Him about the withered tree, he tied it right to faith, prayer and forgivness. These are what is produced in a life that trusts in God.
What Will Jesus Find When He Comes To Us
Faith is all we need to have when Jesus comes to us. Faith is the act of trusting Him. Prayer is putting faith in action, in words. Giving words to the God who is the Word, is prayer. Prayer is an act of faith. Then Jesus brings up forgivenss as if it fits right in with faith and prayer. Forgiveness is what Jesus came to give us through His life and when we trust Him, we give it to everyone else. Forgiveness is what makes us like Jesus and it is produced out of a life that trusts in Him.
Knowing A Fake
People that say they trust in Jesus, and have given their life to him, believeing they do the right stuff and prayed the right prayer, but don’t forgive others, may be like that fig tree that had all the leaves and no figs. It looked the part, but produced nothing that Jesus came for.
May we be all God created us to be. Without striving and performing, may we trust God, and be who he called us to be. Trusting in Jesus, results in faith, prayer and forgiveness recieved and given for the rest of our very blessed lives.
