UNDER THE FIG TREE

When you were under the fig tree, I saw you —John 1:48

Oswald Chambers says this, “The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private ‘fig-tree’ life will no longer be possible.”* Here Chambers is talking about our usefulness as we get involved in God’s work based on the quality of our private worship life. In other words, if we haven’t done our homework at home, it’s too late to start once we are out in the school of everyday life (my paraphrase).

His words "private ‘fig-tree’ life” grip me and won't let go. When I read those words, a different picture comes to mind. The scriptures don’t tell us what Nathanael was doing, but I seriously doubt he was worshipping God as he sat under that fig tree. Instead, I see a picture of a man hot and tired, trying to avoid the noonday sun, possibly avoiding work until the cool of the evening, maybe debating with friends over a minor point of the Torah.

And then I wonder, “What does my ‘private fig-tree life’ look like? If I have a private life, does that mean I also have a “public” life? Are the two different? Shouldn’t they be the same?  

But before I get too far afield, an equally intriguing question draws us back to Jesus’ statement. Nathanael asked Jesus, “How do you know me?” Hearing Jesus’ answer, Nathanael knows he’s met someone bigger than his “private ‘fig-tree’ life.” He’s met the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah.

O Lord, may we come to know you in such a way that our "private 'fig tree' lives" express only our love for You.

*(Utmost for His Highest, September 10)