Monday 17^th December

Matthew 7:15-20, Galatians 5:19-25

Can a fig grow among thistles? Can grapes be picked from among thorn bushes?

Jesus teaches His followers the great truth of identifying a fruit-bearing believer. Yet as was Jesus’ custom, He includes a warning in His teaching. Whenever Jesus taught, it was not in a condemning tone but rather with a Pastoral, Shepherd’s heart for His flock. In today’s passage Jesus warns His disciples to be aware of false prophets/false converts. It is so easy to walk the walk and talk the talk but when we are truly tested in life’s struggles, we can best identify the fruit we are bearing in our lives and in other’s. Jesus warns that the fruit one produces is evident in the way one acts. He then asks the question noted above. The obvious answer to Jesus’ question is no.

Each tree produces the fruit that it was made for. An apple tree produces apples, and pear trees, pears. Jesus is highlighting an important principle here and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. Verse 17 and 18 tells us that “a bad tree can’t produce good fruit and a good tree can’t produce bad fruit”. In other words, if we take the produce of ‘fruit’ to mean the way we live/act in our lives, then if someone says they are a Christian then they should live/act in accordance to that of a follower of Jesus Christ. Well how should that be? What does a Spirit filled fruit-bearing believer look like? Well the answer is found in the book of Galatians.

Paul starts by naming the fruits of the flesh in verse 19. His extensive list of fleshly fruits are usually evident in a non-believer i.e. Drunkenness, orgies, sexual immorality, sorcery etc.. Verse 22 then gives the fruit that a Spirit filled believer should not only live by but that should be the very core of who they are. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Paul concludes in verse 25 that if we profess to live by the Spirit then we should also walk by the Spirit, living out the fruits in our lives. This is the evidence of Christ in us.

Note that being a fruit bearing believer, is not only so you can show yourself to be holy and righteous before other Christians but so that we may set an example to the world; that in times of hardship and struggles, what comes out of us is only the fruit of the Spirit. For it is in hard times when we are squeezed, that what is really inside us shines through and is evident in our lives. Jesus cements this teaching in Matthew 15 by saying that is not what goes in us but what comes out of us that defiles men. Simply, if Christ is in us then only Christ should come out of us. For if our hearts are deceitful and sinful, then that is what will be evident in our fruit.

If we are to truly say we are Christ’s followers then we must challenge ourselves to bear good fruit in every season of our lives. Whether that be in a church context, work or at home we are challenged in all that we do “to serve with all our hearts, as if working for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:23). In bearing good fruit we allow God to get the glory in every part of our lives.