How is your fruit these days?

I recently purchased a lemon plum, a fruit which I had never seen before. I was so intrigued by this tear-drop shaped, butter-yellow fruit, that I couldn’t resist. The fruit was not yet ripe and while it was slightly tart like a lemon, it was not at all refreshing. I spent $1.20 on this disappointing, little piece of fruit. I wish I could tell you it was worth it. It was not.

Jesus also had a frustrating experience with fruit once. We read the account in Matthew 21 and Mark 11. Jesus is hungry as He’s walking along the road from Bethany to Jerusalem. He sees a fig tree with leaves in full bloom, indicating that there should be succulent figs just under the leaves. Yet when He approaches the tree and He finds the leaves were only a façade, there was no fruit to be found. So, He cursed the tree and it immediately withered and died.

According to Colossians 1:10 and Psalm 1, we are expected to “bear fruit in every good work” and be “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.”

So, what is this fruit?

It is the fruit of a life surrendered to God. John the Baptist admonished people to bear the fruit of repentance by humbling themselves before God in confession and repentance for their sins. He went on to say that “every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9 ESV)

The Apostle Paul tells us that the ever-ripening fruit produced in us by the Spirit of God – when we are surrendered in faith to Jesus – is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). While it is not our place to judge one another (Matthew 7:1-2), Jesus did say we should be fruit inspectors (Matthew 7:16). This is one way we can discern who truly has the Spirit of God in them.

Fortunately, Jesus also gave us the secret to producing good fruit. He said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) When we stay close to Jesus – through worship, prayer, and reading the Bible – He will work in and through our lives to produce the fruit of righteousness (Philippians 1:11, Hebrews 12:11). We will not be perfect on this side of heaven, but we can have the ever-ripening, authentic, fruit of a life genuinely committed to Him.

Let us not be like the fig tree that Jesus cursed: with an outward appearance that looks good, but underneath the facade there is no actual fruit. Stay close to Jesus, the true Vine, and allow His nourishment to flow through you until you produce the refreshing fruit that nourishes others.