“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.” (John 15:16, NKJV)
Just to be clear, I am not an arborist, a horticulturist, or a farmer. Truthfully, I cannot successfully grow things. Only the hardiest plants will survive under my care. While I may not have a green thumb, I do enjoy the beauty of growing things. That’s why I enjoy my lone apple tree.
THE TREE
Each spring I look forward to watching the apple tree in my backyard as it blooms and little apples begin to form on its branches. I think the squirrels and birds enjoy watching also because they love eating my apples. Last summer I observed the full branches of small growing apples. I could tell there would soon be an abundance of fruit, even though it was too early to begin picking the fruit. They still needed more time to grow.
I watched that tree every day, checking on my apples. But there was one small problem. My long- anticipated vacation was coming up soon. I wouldn’t be home when it was time to pick apples. I messaged a friend and told him to come pick as many as he wanted while I was gone. The tree was full.
THE MYSTERY
When I returned from vacation, the apple tree was empty. Completely empty. Not one single apple could be found. None were on the ground, and even the hard-to-reach topmost branches were bare. I then learned that my friend hadn’t found time to come. He was not the one who had stripped my tree of every single apple. But who, or perhaps what, had? The mystery is still unsolved, although the best guess is possibly deer. I live in a subdivision with busy streets, so even that seems questionable.
THE LESSON
That empty tree outside my window became a constant reminder that as a child of God I should be producing fruit. I must neverallow my spiritual life to become empty and fruitless. Fruit, however, needs proper conditions to grow. God’s Word tells us how.
We must stay attached. John 15:5 reminds us that we must stay attached to the main vine to be productive. A branch broken off from the vine will die. It has no roots of its own and will produce nothing. The disconnected branch is only good for firewood.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5, NKJV)
We will only reproduce what we are attached to. If we are attached to the True Vine, our life will display the same characteristics as His. If we grow on His tree, we will produce the same type fruit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, NKJV).
Second Peter 1:5-7 offers a similar list of godly attributes: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.
In contrast, if we attach ourselves to things of the world (Galatians 5:19-21), that will be the type fruit we grow. We cannot invest in sinful pursuits and still reap things of the Spirit. It just doesn’t work that way. (Also read Galatians 6:7-8.)
“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:17, NKJV)
Fruitfulness is really a matter of the heart. The fruit we produce, whether good or bad, comes from whatever is in our hearts. If our heart is evil, our fruit will be evil. If our heart is toward God, the fruit will be good and godly. Guard your heart.
When we abide in the Lord, we will abound.
“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 1:8, NKJV)
Spring has once again arrived in my area, and the apple tree has already leafed out. I’m watching to see if it will bear fruit again this year. I hope so.
Devotion by Mary Loudermilk
