Nathanael's heart ....

43 ¶ The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.
51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Jesus saw Nathanel's heart. Even though he was skeptical, Jesus saw his heart, Jesus saw that there was no pretense, hypocrisy in this man's heart and that he sincerely wanted Truth. And even though there was skepticism, Phillip just said to him basically, "Come and see for yourself!" Notice he did not try to convince Nathanael, but instead simply invited him to come to know Jesus for himself.

It has been my experience that people, all people, want to know that God is real. We certainly cannot convince them of this Truth, though religion has certainly given it a good go over the years. But there is no use trying to convince anyone that God is alive and on the throne. Their heart has to be open. Then God can convince, just as He convinced us, and when God does the convincing, all skepticism evaporates as we truly see Him as King of Kings, Lord of Lords. For who He is.

The fig tree symbolized the place of rest, or a place of meditating where God's spirit was working, a place where Nathanel's heart had became opened to the Truth & only Jesus knew this (when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee). **Notice it wasn't in the temple as was the custom of the religion of the day. It seems it was in his own private place that the work of God was opening up his heart. God is so acquainted with us, he knows us intimately.

As soon as Nathanael turned toward Jesus with this heart, how quickly & easily he was able to overcome his skepticism. It seemed to literally evaporate! He was seeking the real deal, the real thing. He was seeking a type of a genuine relationship with the Lord. Jesus knew that ! It was a great reward, for Jesus immediately spoke to him.

Our relationship with the Lord is one that must touch our heart constantly and deeply. It's transforming within, His Spirit. We are always thinking about and pondering deep things in our heart - the more we know and continue in this direction, the more our heart becomes anchored in Christ. It is all about the heart and less about the self. We must be willing to sweep away all that denies us of the type of relationship where His greatness is demonstrated; deny ourselves of the temptation instead to lift self up. May He become all in all in us and through us.