Series: Overflow
Message: Overflow
Preacher: Jessyka Dooley
Reflection: Jessyka Dooley
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Kyle Smith
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Luke 6:43-45 in the New Testament for Everyone (NTE). Note 1–3 insights or questions. 

Reflect: There’s a story about Jesus and a fig tree that appears in both the Gospel of Matthew (Chapter 18) and the Gospel of Mark (Chapter 11). In this story, Jesus is traveling along and He becomes hungry. He sees a fig tree by the road. When He approaches the tree to pick some fruit, he finds nothing but leaves! Jesus curses the tree, saying, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately, the tree withers.

Jesus went up to a fig tree expecting figs, but all He found was leaves. Now you might be thinking, “Jesus, why did you have to be so harsh on the tree? Maybe it wasn’t the season for figs or maybe it just needed some more time.” Originally, that’s what I thought when I read this story.

It wasn’t until I learned something unique about fig trees that I understood Jesus’ frustration with this plant. A fig tree grows its fruit and leaves at the same time. Hence, a tree with leaves but without fruit isn’t a good tree. Jesus saw that this tree was pretending to be something that it wasn’t, fruitful.

A fig tree with nothing but the appearance of fruit is pretty useless. This is a metaphor for something we should all be aware of in our own lives. Are we showing off fig leaves without having any real figs underneath the leaves? Is there only a facade indicating health and fruitfulness?

Are we so busy volunteering, serving, and giving that we don’t even realize our hearts aren’t in these activities at all? When we volunteer our time without a joyful heart or a sense of meaning and purpose, we’re just fig trees with leaves but no figs. When we serve someone out of obligation but not out of love, compassion, and patience, we’re all leaves, no figs. When we give but we do so without thankfulness for what we have been given, we're just leaves.

When someone comes to us, expecting figs, expecting this good fruit, will they find it? Or will they just be searching around in the leaves and coming up empty?

Recalibrate: Discuss a time when appearances deceived you.

Respond: Ask God for a life that is honest, that is not focused on outward appearances but rather on following Jesus.

Research: Do some research on fig trees to learn about their growth cycle.

Remember: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45, NIV).

Jessyka Dooley is associate pastor at Boulder Adventist Church, leading Live Wonder (ages 0-3), Live Adventure (ages 4-11), and Live Purpose (ages 12-17), along with their supporting ministries. She grew up in Washington State and has a degree in theology from Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. Jessyka has served in various areas of ministry, but her passion for discipling kids has taken center stage in her career.

Using a large piece of PlayDoh or pizza dough and some plastic toy animals, press the animals into the dough. Pull the animals out and see what shape is left behind. While it is so easy to see what is not working, press into what is. Fill your heart with what is good and see what impression you leave behind you.

Check this out. This experiment shows how plants respond to good things and bad things. What would you say to the plant who was being bullied? While we cannot control what other people say, we can choose if we hold onto what they say and if we store mean things in our hearts. Fill up on how much Jesus loves you.

What makes something good or bad? I have heard people argue for hours over what is good and what is bad. Some may say one thing is good and another person will claim that the same thing is bad! It can be so confusing, right? What I have come to believe is that it is not simply about what is good or bad, but about what you treasure. Everyone will have an opinion about what is good and what is bad, but what you treasure shapes the person you are and will become. There is only one thing that I know to be good, and that is Jesus. I want to encourage you today to treasure Jesus. Everything else is subjective and temporary.