All Leaves and No Fruit

Father, I don’t want to sound trite but Your grace is amazing! How many times have I used those words together? But they never grow old! I am indebted to Your grace. I humbly bow before You with a heart full of reverence and submission…

Matthew 21:18-22 (<<click to read the passage)

First of all, this is not an outburst of anger on the part of Jesus. We must see this as an illustration taking place right before the eyes of the disciples.

It was a little early in the year for figs but the tree’s full manifestation of leaves gave the distinct impression that with the leaves would be fruit. The tree looked good but there was no fruit – it was deceptive.

If we could see ourselves, as Christians, standing before the world, what would we look like? Promising of truth? Upright? A shining example? The question we must ask ourselves then is, do we just look good from a distance or are we good to the core?

Jesus said in Luke 6:43-45,

⁴³ “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. ⁴⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Lord Jesus, help me to constantly fill my heart with good things so that that is what flows from my heart. Some things are not “bad” per se but they are just so much rubbish – of no benefit to anyone. Fill me, Lord, with You. Amen.

Sept 5^th, 2018, Wed, 7:27 pm