Have you ever eaten a piece of fruit and considered all that was necessary to make this piece of fruit so enjoyable and edible? What makes a piece of fruit so sweet and juicy? The time that it would take to go into all of the details of a piece of fruit and its delectableness is beyond what I have time to write. Metaphorically speaking, there are a few key thoughts that when we compare them to our life help us to realize that a great piece of fruit can come from our lives if we work at it.
First of all, a piece of fruit must stay connected to the plant for as long as possible in order to be as sweet and succulent as possible. I recently bought some peaches from California; I live in Michigan. Those peaches were not picked at 6 am and flown on a special airplane to make it to my hands by 12 noon. These peaches were picked when they were still hard and not edible so they would not rot on the trip across the country. Once I bit into those peaches and tried to use them for a recipe I realized that these peaches were still hard and did not have a rich, sweet flavor. Instead they were almost tasteless. A friend of mine brought me some peaches from Georgia, and the difference between peaches picked when they were ripe and driven immediately to my doorstep was amazing. These peaches were sweet, succulent, and juicy. Everything you want in a peach.
My life is similar to this peach. The better I stay connected to God, my Heavenly Father, the closer I will be to a sweet peach. The longer I am away from God the more hard I become. Matthew 3:8 says, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” In this chapter, John the Baptist is talking to the Sadducees and the Pharisees. These two groups of people were the religious men of the day. John was encouraging them that repentance is what brings fruit to our lives in the spiritual realm. These men were basing their spirituality on their heritage; Abraham was their father (Matthew 3:9). They also were known to be pious and rule followers. They followed extra rules so they would not break the rules they weren’t supposed to break in the first place. John was trying to help them understand that it isn’t about heritage and it isn’t about following rules for rules sake. We are to bear fruit by repenting of our sin and by staying connected to God the Father.
These religious people were basing their spirituality on their outward behavior and on their heritage. Jesus wanted them to see that it was what was in the heart that matters. The more connected our heart is to God the Father, the better our outward behavior will be.
So the question for you is what type of fruit are you bearing? Is your fruit hard, not sweet, and undesirable? Or is your fruit sweet and delicious? We must repent of our sins, and follow Christ; then there will be fruit that will be pleasing to God.
We must understand that Jesus is the One that paid the penalty for our sins. We need to confess our sins to God so He can forgive us. Jesus is the One who took my punishment, so it is in the name of Jesus that I must be forgiven. This confession can be done anywhere and at anytime. The key is do we have a repentant heart, or are we confessing out of obligation? “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Mathew 3:8)
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