What Is Good Fruit?

Once there was a small wood full of trees and shrubs and bushes and just about every kind of plant you would find in a forest. There were tall oak trees and small thorn bushes and medium-sized evergreen shrubs; and each plant in the wood did what it was made to do: the pine trees produced pine cones and the thorn bushes grew thorns and the evergreen shrubs produced little red berries. The wood was a happy and balanced place just as it was.

One day, a man came into the wood. He was dressed all in black, and in his hand he carried a black book. The man looked at all of the greenery, opened his book and began to preach. He preached to the tall oak trees and to the small thorn bushes and to the medium-sized evergreen shrubs. He preached to everything that lived in the wood, and this is what he said: "The day is coming, and is  now upon us, when the Master of this wood shall return. He will come to judge each and every one of you according to your fruit. If your fruit is good, he will take you to his palace, and transplant you into his orchard; but if your fruit is bad, he will destroy you with fire!" After the man in black said this, he closed his book.

The trees and shrubs and bushes all looked at one another, and then at the man, and then at each other again. Some of the bolder ones (probably the oaks) spoke up and said: "Tell us, sir---what is good fruit?" The man reached deep into one of his pockets, pulled out a plump, shiny, red apple and said: "This is good fruit!" Then he took a bite of it and smiled, because indeed it was good; and he turned and left the wood.

As soon as the man left, the trees and bushes and shrubs all turned their attention to producing good fruit (because they would all prefer to be in the orchard than to be destroyed by fire!) 

 

The oak trees produced some beautiful acorns, and the evergreen shrubs grew some lovely berries. The thorn bushes pushed and groaned and popped out some plump, pointy...thorns. All of the other plants produced their own fruit as only they could, and each took pride in its own work; and the wood was a happy place, just as it was.

Then one day another man came to the wood. This man did not carry a black book, and he did not speak to the plants; he just reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny, red apple just like the first one. And taking the apple, he silently went up to each of the trees and shrubs and bushes and compared the fruit in his hand to their fruit.

When he was all done he sadly shook his head, and reaching deep into his other pocket, he pulled out a book of matches and struck one to the dry leaves of the forest floor.

 

Not a single one of the trees, shrubs or bushes was transplanted to the master's orchard, because none of them were apple trees...

If we are indeed born sinful, than our fruit will always be sin---no matter how hard we try, how good we look, how often we go to church or even how often we pray --- unless some outside power greater than ourselves can change us and make us into what we are not! And THIS is what God does: He takes us AS WE ARE and transforms us into what we never could have been. In Christ we are holy, righteous, good, loving, patient, kind --- a good tree producing good fruit!

 

"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

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