I can’t remember where I heard this statement, from a sermon I believe, but nevertheless, they said Christians should be “green and growing, and not allow the fruit to become rotten, for rotten fruit is good for nothing, and a barren tree too is good for nothing.”

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do man gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
Matthew 7:16-19

We cannot produce fruit apart from Jesus. I taught this lesson a couple of weeks ago to my class on Lord’s Day. One of my students could not understand the pruning process in that it will produce more fruit.

“I Am the True Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye except ye abide in Me. I Am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:1-11

No farmer, nor gardener will keep plants or crops which are not producing. These will be replaced by others which will produce. A farmer especially cannot lose a crop and keep planting non producing crops as he would soon be out of business.

“Mama kept a garden which to people sounds romantic who have never held a hoe.” ~ Rick Bragg

The same applies to ranchers and other businesses. In ranching, herds are culled for cows that are non producing. The rancher is in business to make money. If he has a cow that is non producing due to age or she is barren, or if the bull is non productive, it goes as well. Otherwise they lose a calving season. They cannot continue to feed animals if they do not produce and the same applies in non productive businesses.

“Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.”

I have a humorous side note to this article. My friend was married just shy of 60 years. He lost his wife to diabetes. Nevertheless, one day as he was passing through their den, he overheard his wife tell her friend. “I have to keep being productive, for if I don’t my husband will take me to the sale barn.” I have laughed at that so many times. She was also the one that didn’t produce a caramel pie to his liking, and never made one again in all of those years of marriage. That too tells us about non production. Never say to your wife, “It’s not the way my mother baked it.” It cost him in production of caramel pies.

“And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” Matthew 21:19

A sobering Scripture!

“Behavior is the fruit of the tree which unmistakably tells us the kind of tree that produced it. But there are exceptions, just as one defective apple on a tree does not indict the tree. Occasionally there is an abnormality. So it is with man. A mistake may not picture his true self. However, constant behavior is truly a mirror; it reflects what a person is. I say constant behavior because everyone occasionally acts either worse or better than himself.

Beautiful words not backed by meaningful deeds mean nothing. An ounce of do is worth a pound of talk. People may doubt what you say but not what you do.

Personal behavior is the backbone of our society. Our nation was given to us by the behavior of our founding fathers. Let’s hope that it’s not destroyed by the behavior of their floundering children.” ~ Leroy Brownlow

Eileen Light