This post is Day 14 in a series of studies about “The Fig Tree”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts about each verse and how you will be acting on each thought. Also, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive the notifications of new studies, you can do that today (the form is at the bottom of the page).

The Fig Tree – Day 14

The Israelites had become complacent. Are we trusting in our homes, our bank accounts, the people we know, to be our protection or solution in a time of difficulty? Or are we trusting Jesus? We must be sure to be trusting in Him and nothing else.

Jeremiah 5:17

They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your cattle. They will devour your grapevines and your fig trees. With their swords they will destroy the fortified cities you trust.

The Thought

This chapter makes very sober reading. The Israelites had become complacent, too comfortable in their buildings, too confident that they had all they needed. They had lost their first love (Revelation 2:4). Neither the rabbis nor the priests were taking their faith seriously. So God told them through Jeremiah that He would send an opposing force that would destroy everything they held dear.

Not obeying God’s commandments can have dire consequences!

The last phrase in our verse for today is a challenge for many of us. “The fortified cities in which you trust”. The Israelites had settled in cities, built fortifications, homes and temples and were confident that they could keep out any enemy. But they didn’t realise that they had more or less forgotten God.

Are we trusting in our homes, our bank accounts, the people we know, to be our protection or solution in a time of difficulty? Or are we trusting Jesus?

Sadly, today, many churches do not understand the battle of the days we are living in. Is your church challenging you to keep growing, keep serving, keep listening and obeying?

No matter how much we know about the Lord and life with Him, there is always so much more to learn. We must therefore be sure to be trusting in Him and nothing else. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

Action

Pray for yourself and your church community, that you will always have the enthusiasm of a new believer, and that you will trust in nothing else but Jesus.