Church on the couch

I miss church. This has been an awful season for Kent and his poor immune system. Once again, this morning a cough and cold prohibited us from being able to attend church. After I put Kent down for his morning nap, I attend church on the couch in my living room. I am craving community with my fellow believers, but even more so I was desperate to hear from God this morning. I had to make the best of my situation. Parker is with Grandma today, so it was a special treat that I was able to just sit in God's presence with worship music faintly in the background, my open Bible on my lap, and a cup of hot coffee in my hands.

Seeing as how it is Palm Sunday, I read Mark 11 because it's the portion of Scripture that details Jesus walking through the streets of Jerusalem while the crowds hailed him as King and shouted "Hosanna". But, it was the verses following that struck a cord with my heart. While on the way to the temple, Jesus sees a fig tree that is not producing fruit, and curses the tree. That tree was not fulfilling the purpose that God had created it to accomplish. Later, Jesus walks into the temple and clears it out and rebukes the individuals there. That temple, and more importantly, the people inside, were not fulfilling the purpose that God had originally intended. Is it a coincidence that Jesus saw this barren fig tree on his way to the temple? These two instances are obviously connected.

I know more than once, my life was like the fig tree and my heart was like the temple that Jesus cleared out that day. My choices and habits have inhibited me from producing fruit, and my temple was in a state of rebellion. My potential was untapped and unfulfilled.

I pray that as God examines my fruit and my temple, that He would be blessed instead of grieved. Only with the grace of God can that be accomplished; that is why I need Him so much.