Matthew 7:16a

"By their fruit you will recognize them." Matthew 7:16a

We're going to talk more about this tomorrow. But I was thinking today about fruit trees. We have a number of apple trees on our property, and I love the way they look this time of the year. The apples begin to blush. They are big and round and full. The yard just screams, "Apple Pie!!" The apples are produced by the tree that it grows on. The apples themselves do nothing but grow. The tree does all the work. The roots tap down and find water. The leaves turn up to soak up sunlight. The tree makes the food and produces the fruit.

Contrast that to the beautiful pine trees we have around here. We cut one down each Christmas and bring it inside to decorate. We hang beautiful things all over it. It is pretty to look out, but the tree didn't produce any of it. It is all fake and just to look at.

The apples on our trees just beg visitors to come pick them and take a bite. But we've never had anyone ask to eat one of our Christmas ornaments. Everyone knows that a Christmas trees point is to decorate and look pretty - not to contribute lasting meaning to the world.

Galatians 5:22-23 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Those are the natural fruits produced by one who is following close to Jesus and doing His will.

What kind of fruit does your life show? Are you more like the Christmas tree that puts on a nice display? Or is your life naturally producing the fruit of the Spirit?