A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised. ~Proverbs 12:8
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, nor grapes from briars. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. ~Luke 6:43-45
In the life of a tree, its fruit is the culmination of the reason that it exists. Fruit is its purpose. A tree can provide shade and its blossoms can smell nice, but the real point of a tree is its fruit. Trees are planted because of their fruit. Also, the fruit contains within itself the tree’s next generation. Without fruit, there are no seeds of the next generation. Without fruit, to the farmer, the tree is just taking up space and needs to be removed.
Remember Jesus’ parable about that kind of a fig tree in Luke 13? “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So, he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” (Luke 13:6-7)
Fruit is the point of the existence of the tree. Also, for the most part, the fruit of the tree is pretty consistent. There aren’t usually too many surprises. Apples may be the exception to the rule here, but for the most part, you get what you are expecting from the tree you planted, when you get fruit at all. You won’t get a fig from a thornbush, or oranges from an apple tree.
Apples are the exception because it takes two apple trees and cross pollination to make an apple tree produce fruit. But that cross pollination means that the resulting fruit will not be exactly like either of the parents. It will still be an apple, but it could have a very different color and flavor. To get the exact same apple, the branch of an apple you like has to be grafted into a root stock. Jesus is our root stock, and we are grafted in, to become more like him.
When you taste the fruit that a tree produces, you will make a decision about whether or not you will ever want any more. “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” In Christ, our goal is also to be fruit producers. And, as with trees, others will discern the quality of our fruit, if there is any to experience. When our fruit is good and worthy of sharing, it will be praised, and others will be grateful to see us produce more. The tree never eats its own fruit.
The fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness kindness and self-control, (Galatians 5:22-23), along with godly wisdom, are fruits that the world needs more of, scattered through this life. They already know the bitter fruit that the world produces, “Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like.” (Galatians 5:19-21) and many don’t know how to live another way.
When we produce the fruit that Christ planted us to provide, it brings hope and freedom because we are putting on display that there is another way. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”
Our heart is like the seed that becomes the root of our tree. What we produce comes from our heart. Amazingly, through Jesus, our heart is changed from one that can only produce the warped fruit of the world to a heart that can produce blessing for others and bring Glory to our God. We truly do become a new tree when we surrender to Him. That is the hope that we demonstrate to others by producing good fruit that others want more of.
What a blessing to know that Christ can change us from what we were in our natural selves to a life with amazing possibilities through His grace. We are not trapped in our sins or our sinful ways, producing only the warped distasteful fruit that even we will despise. He gives us a new heart and a new fruit. He grafts Himself into us and changes us to a fruit that those around us will praise because of its sweet taste and abundance.
What a mercy to know that we can be transformed so completely because of Him.
Prayer: Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, You are beautiful and most fruitful of good things and many blessings. Thank you for grafting me into Your family and changing me so that I can produce good fruit too. I’m blessed to be a blessing! In Jesus’ name, amen.
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