Got Fruit?
December 29, 2009
by Duane CarebPresident RVchurchesUSA Recently my good friend, John Imler (RVchurchesUSA Ambassor and author of It’s Never Too Late), emailed me a picture of this peach
tree in his back yard in California (where else?).
He was trying to entice Erika and me to return for another visit to his home. I must admit, I was stunned to see just how much fruit was remaining in that tree!
He told me that Ruth (his wife) and he had picked sweet nectar peaches that were juicy, plump and fuzzy. He raved on bragging that there were hundreds still hanging on the tree even though they harvested more than a hundred already. “John”, I said, “that has to be one incredible tree that continues to bear fruit even after you have plucked much from it!” He snickered and replied, “Seems like a spiritual message in itself, doesn’t it?”
My friend John was right – there is a biblical application regarding our worth to God as trees that continue to bear fruit even when we feel we have been picked apart by others.
If you’re anything like me when I’m “ministry spent” – drained or feeling depleted with no more to give – you have experienced a temptation to retreat from serving, encouraging or even being God’s showcase to others day after day. It’s exhausting, isn’t it?
John 15:8 relates Jesus’ own words for us while in Philippians 1:11 the Apostle Paul writes about bearing fruit for the Kingdom. What is the fruit of the spirit? Galatians 5:22-23 offers us encouragement by identifying specific Christ-like characteristics for us to consistently emulate – even when we are “spent” or exhausted.
Is your tree continually bearing fruit? What can you personally do to renew (grow) the fruits plucked from your spiritual-growth tree?
Like John’s peach tree, with God’s grace and a personal relationship with Jesus, we continue to bear fruit that is sweet, pleasant and encouraging to those who need to pluck them from our branches. We renew our fruit through the process of reading scripture, communicating with Jesus and, yes, even plucking the fruit from the tree of others to help us regain our perspectives.
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