SUPPLYING GODLY FRUIT
Psalm 1:3
He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers
Micah and I sat with our backs against a huge tree. We had heard some turkeys gobbling in the area and we were waiting patiently for one to come go our calls. Finally after an hour two gobblers passed to our left just out of range. A minute later I watched Micah slowly raise his shotgun and turn around the far side of the tree and end his hunt with a beautiful Indiana turkey.
When we met up with our host and friend, Paul, I told him where we were sitting and mentioned the huge tree. Paul, being a forester explained that it was a mature Mulberry tree. I was shocked because all I ever knew of Mulberry trees was the little "pop goes the weasel" song from my childhood. I wasn't even sure what a Mulberry was and assumed it grew on a small bush, like a blueberry.
Paul explained that the Mulberry was similar to a blackberry and it wasn't really a bush but a tree. The tree that Micah and I sat against was probably 75 years old and was 60-70 ft tall and had an enormous crown that was 50 across. Paul said the tree would have hundreds of pounds of berries on it some falls and birds, raccoons and other animals come from miles around to feast on its tasty fruit.
Our lives should be like that tree, bearing fruit and attracting others to come and grow.
In John 15:5, Jesus emphasizes the importance of staying connected to Him in order to bear fruit.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Just as I will now know my a Mulberry tree by it's fruit, Jesus know us by ours. If we're bearing the Fruit of the Spirit, people will see some of Christ in us. If there were a true test for Christlikeness, it would not be Pharisee type words, loud showy preaching or pious actions; it would be the presence of the Fruit of the Spirit. If love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control aren't evident in our lives, we may be talking the talk but we're clearly not walking the walk.
Being reborn takes only a moment but becoming Christlike, now that takes a lifetime. Every life bears fruit of some kind. The question for each of us is, "What kind of fruit is mine?"
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