I love figs. Not too fond for the toxic leaves, but that is another story. I want to focus on the fruit. Unlike many other fruits, like apples, peaches, oranges, etc. the fig is an inverted flower. That means technically it is not a fruit as the flowers do not fall away revealing the tiny fruit. Instead, the flowers bloom inside its encasing and matures into the fruit we love to eat. Some of you may not like figs. There are a lot of health benefits associated with the figs. For example, an ounce of dried figs provides 3 grams of fiber. It may also help lower cholesterol and control blood sugar levels. It is a good source of calcium and helps with osteoporosis. (healthline.com) Maybe, you should try to like them.
Flowers can not become a new creation without assistance from other creatures through the miracle of pollination. This is the transfer of pollen to a flower that allows fertilization. As Spring approaches, it is nice to see flowers on our fruit trees. Those flowers will fall away and will be replaced with a maturing fruit. How did that happen? Mother nature has a way of connecting insect to plant to ensure both species survive. The insect ensures ferritization of the plant where the plant provides some insects with a continued life cycle. If the insect became extinct, the plant it pollinates would cease to exist. It is easy for us to see the pollination process with typical flowers. What about the figs? What if we cut down the fig tree? Would that impact the ecosystem? Most likely it would if mass extermination of the fig tree happened. We are tempted to act too quick when we are not conditioned to consider the outcome of our actions. The Creator is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our abilities. If we can endure for a little while, we will be provided a way out of our predicament. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
The fig tree needs the insect to produces figs. Did you know when you eat a fig, you are most likely eating one or more dead wasps? Don’t worry the wasp is now part of the awesome nutrients found in figs. A female wasps pollinates the inverted flower of a fig and dies. If the fig is male, the wasps has found a home to lay her eggs as well as pollinating the male fig pod. If the pod is female, the wasp dies, not in vain, as it still pollinates the fig. Male wasps are born first and born blind. They mate with the female wasps born then they sacrifice their bodies trying to bore out of the pod. Their sacrifice allows the fertilized female to escape so she can continue the wasp life cycle. A man owned a fig tree that did not produce figs. He was tempted to cut it down but the gardener asked for another year to fertilize the tree in the hopes that figs would indeed be produced. This story found in Luke 13:1-9 is an example of our temptation to act too soon. Unless we change our hearts and lives, we are at risk of dying in vain. The fig lives because at least one wasp died. We live because He died. May His sacrifice not be in vain.
T