Once when Christ Jesus was hungry, he and his disciples came to a fig tree with no fruit on it, just leaves. Discovering the tree's false signal—the leaves were a sign that the tree should have had fruit—Jesus declared, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever." As a result, the tree withered. The Bible goes on, "And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done." Matt. 21:19-21.
One might interpret this incident as an illustration of Christ Jesus' dominion over the nonproductive belief or concept. Through spiritual sense, one is able to discern unfruitfulness even when the signals given out—symbolized by the misleading leaves on the fig tree—seem to present an outwardly normal state. We particularly need this discernment when we face this type of situation because nonproductivity is usually more than a stagnant state of affairs. It can be the beginning of what turns into counterproductive activity.
Jesus likened the withering of the fig tree to the removing of mountains, and he claimed it took faith without doubt to accomplish the task. This act of Jesus can be very helpful to those dealing with nonproductivity.
