His disciples heard him say it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again” (Mk. 11:14 RSV). The next morning, as they once more walked from Bethany to Jerusalem, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, look! The fig tree which you cursed has withered!” (Mk. 11:20-21).
Jesus’ reply is useful to all of us: “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast 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. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses” (Mk. 11:22-26).
Moving barriers
Christ’s concern and ours is not with rearranging the physical landscape; the important application is in regard to overcoming those barriers which stand in the way of service to God. From these words, a vital element in removing such barriers is an uncompromising faith that “does not doubt” in one’s heart. We might call this a childlike faith.
This would be an appropriate description as, shortly before, Jesus had exhorted his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mk. 10:15). One of the characteristics of children is their whole-heartedness. Small ones conceal very little of how they feel or what they desire. When they are at play, they become wholly immersed in one activity, oblivious to their surroundings. And they have utter faith and perfect trust in those whom they love.
Our faith and commitment should likewise be all-absorbing.
Complete commitment
Immediately after Christ’s blessing of the children, we are told of the rich young ruler. We can interpret what Christ told this young man as saying: “Receive the kingdom of God like a child. Hold nothing back; you have given all things but one. Give that now; give your riches and then your commitment will be total.”
When the young man did not comply, Jesus said to them, in effect, “Children, how hard it is for those who hold something back [the rich] to enter the kingdom of God.” In this case it was riches, but it can be something else for another person. For us, we may want to retain our independence of conduct (we give that up for Christ when we follow his commandments in our lives) or our intellectual freedom (Christ’s teachings can seem too simple but we must submit our intellect to him).
It all comes down to our heart. Have we really submitted our heart to Christ? We can’t hold it back.
This much we know, whatever we let go for Christ’s sake — whether money, family, time or intellectual pursuit — we know that we will receive back an hundredfold and, in the age to come, eternal life.
Surpassing value of faith
When God appeared to Solomon in a dream (I Kings 3), He offered the king whatever he desired. The Lord was pleased by Solomon’s request that he should have “an understanding mind to govern your people, and to distinguish between right and wrong.”
Wisdom is a good thing. Solomon was able to write all of the wise proverbs and he was known worldwide for his intellect and the good application of it. Yet in all his wisdom, he did not retain faith. Solomon undoubtedly knew the value of faith; his understanding and his wisdom would have made him aware of it; yet somehow his heart did not know it.
Pray for faith
By all means, ask for wisdom and understanding, but don’t neglect faith. Keep asking God for enthusiasm and faith. If we do, surely we will receive it. We are assured that if we ask anything according to God’s will, we will receive it, and it is certain He wants us to have enthusiasm and faith; “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).
Remember, too, that asking for faith must be done sincerely. We must really want to have it! If our prayer is nothing but words that we think we have to say, will that work? Let us try to truly desire faith, remembering that God is merciful and gracious to forgive our weakness and lack of total resolve, if we admit it to Him and to ourselves.
We may weakly question in our hearts, “Do I really want to have faith in God?” If we confess that weakness to God, if we humble ourselves before Him in that way, He is gracious and will surely give us the faith we need.
Add love to faith
No consideration of this passage would be complete without noting the words of Paul, “…and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” To our faith we have to add love.
Let us show our faith by works of love. Let us thus overcome those mountains which stand between us and God. Let the mountains of greed, pride and disbelief be cast into the sea by our faith and love, and let the love and mercy of God, and of His Son, fill us with hope, perfecting and making us complete and lovely in their sight.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One