Fig Tree
Is That All it Takes?
What did it take for you to believe? Was it the fact that someone showed you the Gospel in the Bible, or maybe you just felt it pressed upon your heart after hearing sermons and lessons about the saving power of Jesus? Whatever it was that made you believe in Christ your belief in His message was a leap of faith.
I have never really noticed the disciple, Nathanael before until I read John 1: 45-51. Nathanael is one of the characters in the Bible who shows us that it does not take much for one to have faith that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The story of Nathanael goes like this:
“Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote-Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do you know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe?” (John 1: 45-50, NKJV)
In other words Jesus was saying, “Is that all it took? It only took for me to tell you where you were sitting?”
Some people are only waiting for someone to tell them that Christ sees them. That Christ even knew them before they were born! If someone would just speak the simple words of Christ’s love and his power to forgive some people would say, “Jesus is the son of God! He is the King of Israel and I want him to be King over my life!”
Think of one person while you’re reading this who you know God has placed on your heart to tell them about Jesus and pray for them right now. The next time you see this person at work or at school simply invite them to the Church. That’s all it takes! Sometimes we think that we have to almost perform a miracle before someone will believe what we are telling them about Jesus. But maybe, just maybe, the person who you just prayed for is a Nathanael. Someone who is waiting to hear from YOU that Christ cares for them and that YOU care for them.
Before you know it you will be having a conversation about Christ and you will be able to share your faith with that person who God wants so desperately to have in His kingdom. Christ says in finishing his conversation with Nathanael, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:51, NKJV). Let’s be that person THIS WEEK who shows our friends the very beginning of what God wants to show them.
