How’s Your Fruit?

Luke 6:43 I was in the grocery store recently, looking for lettuce. I found it, but the supply was scant, the heads were small, most were rather soft, the quality was not very good, and the price was high. When I look for lettuce, I want to see large, firm, clean and fresh-looking heads. A grocer who wants to sell produce will display it in such a way that says, “Can’t you just taste me? Take me home with you.” Are we, most of the time, even aware of how our “Christian life style display” appears to other people? If we saw someone else with the same qualities, behavior, speech and attitude that we have, what would our impression be? Would we say, “If that’s what being a Christian is all about, I want it.” or would we say, “Give me a break!” Keep in mind, that no matter how you label your display, rutabagas will never sell as cantaloupes. The only thing that rutabagas and cantaloupes have in common is that they both are round. That’s about as much as a saved and a lost person have in common — they are both people. Jesus said that the way you can tell what kind of tree you have is by seeing what kind of fruit is on it. What kind of “tree” would the casual observer conclude you to be. Do they feel free to ask for counsel or advice on Christian matters? Would or do they ask you to pray with or for them. Jesus tells us in this passage that what comes out is a result of what you have stored in your heart. 45b says, “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” If in observing your fruit you conclude that you’re not a Christian, Jesus can give you a “species change” (save you). If your fruit is just bad in quality, Jesus is the one to see for that too. Let us fill ourselves with the water of the Word and prayer. And ask the Holy Spirit to help us display our produce (lives) in a way that would make God proud; and the observer know what being a Christian is all about.