Producing Fruit

January 7

(Luke 3:9 NIV) “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

(Matthew 7:16-21 NIV) “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? {17} Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. {18} A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. {19} Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. {20} Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. {21} "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

(Galatians 5:19-23 NIV) “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; {20} idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions {21} and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. {22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

Living a fruitful life is important. John the Baptist, the apostle Paul, and the Lord Jesus preached this message. Do we produce fruit so we can be saved? No! We produce fruit because we are saved. Fruit is the evidence that we are rooted in Christ. John preached that if our repentance produces no fruit, the repentance is not genuine. And if we have not genuinely repented, God will take an ax to us, cut us down, and throw us into the fire. How’s that for “seeker sensitive”? Would Jesus approve of that message? Yes indeed! He preached the same thing in His Sermon on the Mount: God will know us by the fruit we produce, and fire awaits those who are fruitless. Perhaps it would be a good time to ask, “What is growing in my life? Is it the fruit of repentance? Is it the fruit of God’s Spirit?” If there is no fruit, perhaps we are rooted in something other than Christ, and it’s time to replant. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day