FRUIT. I have
always loved fruit. Even as a child it was one of my favorite snacks. I
remember coming home from school one day and seeing a great big bowl of juicy
ripe fruit sitting on the dining room table. I passed it by to do other things,
but my mind kept going back to that delicious bowl of juicy ripe fruit.
Finally, I found myself, hungry, back at the table, reaching for apple, only to
discover that it was artificial. Needless to say I was disappointed. Christians,
they’ve always fascinated me, from a distance. I found it fascinating that one
could receive peace and strength from a source outside one’s self.One day I met a
Christian. I spent some time with her, wanting to taste and see just what Christianity
was all about. I got to know her, inside and out, only to discover that she was
artificial. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
JOHN 15:8 By this my
Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
I think we have all at one time or another been deceived by
how something might look from the outside. We may have met someone that was
very attractive that turned out to not be very nice or you may have gone car
shopping and realized that the shiny new car doesn’t look that shiny and new
underneath the hood.
I was driving down 41 a while back and I passed a homeless
person on the side of the road. I was on my way to work and I didn’t want to be
late, but I felt so convicted to go back and give him my lunch and couple
bottles of water. I kept driving and about ten minutes later. I couldn’t take
it anymore. I turned my car around and drove back to the man, knowing I was
going to be late for work. When I pulled to the side of the road and rolled
down my window. I tried to hand the man the waters and food out the window as I
told him that I felt God wanted me to give Him these items. He looked me
straight in the face and said, “I don’t need that. God just wanted to see if
you would be obedient.” He then told me that he was a minister that God had
called to live on the streets to reach the lost in places so many might not go.
I left him that day, feeling so disoriented by how God could speak so deeply to
my heart through a man that I would have never thought would have anything to
offer me. I mean, I had a job, a house, and a car. And I had Jesus. What could
this homeless man possibly have to offer me? Sure I had been praying that God
speak to me and let me hear His voice, but if you had put that man in a lineup
and asked me whom God would use to strengthen my faith, he would have probably
been the last I would have chosen.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
MATTHEW
21:18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became
hungry. 19 And
seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but
only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And
the fig tree withered at once.
I remember hearing this story as a girl and I didn’t
understand why Jesus would cause the fig tree to wither away, I mean if anything,
why wouldn’t he force it to grow fruit? He was hungry right?But then again He isn’t forcing me to grow fruit and I meet
so many people every single day that are hungry, that don’t know Him as their
Savior. You probably see people too that don’t know the Lord. Many of them are
hurting, not only physically but emotionally. They might be lonely or angry or
scared.Maybe the bigger question might be why wasn’t the fig tree producing
fruit? And what is it that might be hindering our lives from producing fruit?Is it bitterness, anger? Unforgiveness? Am I too busy? Too
worried I might be late to work or to lunch? Am I missing an opportunity to
share Jesus with someone because I watch too much television or I ignore him in
the hallway because he doesn’t look like me, talk like me, or smell like me?When I in third grade we moved to a new neighborhood. There
was a girl that lived a few doors down. Her name was Lisa. She was my age,
but her parents smoked cigarettes and I thought she smelled funny. Overtime I
accepted that she couldn’t help how her clothes smelled and she became a very
good friend to me. Her parents were always fighting and she loved coming over
to my house to escape the dysfunction and yelling. She felt loved at our home.
I’m glad I didn’t let my nose get in the way of that.How many people are around us that are going hungry because
we are offering them no fruit? They might not need a banana, they might need a
smile or a thank you, or they might need you to pray for them.
Galatians 5:22-23 22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control.
JOHN 15:8 By this my
Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
