May 4, 2024
Pastor Darin Youngberg
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Daily Bread
Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2018 by Bro_D
Daily Bread March 29, 2018
Matthew 7:17-20 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (18) A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
There are times when God’s Word is just simple to understand, and there are times when it may take great time to get to the core of its meaning .. today .. these verses are pretty simple to get.
An apple tree produces apples, an orange tree produces oranges … that’s simple. An orange tree will never be mistaken for an apple tree. Jesus doesn’t try to hide what He is saying with a parable – He comes right out and says what He means --- every single person will be recognized BY the fruit their life produces.
There will never be a person that gets to know me that will ever have the slightest inclination that I am K-State fan or a Mizzou fan –and I hope that if I ever start to identify as either one of those that people will quickly come to my aide and straighten me out!
Jesus makes at least 2 very clear points here: (1) There will be people who identify as one thing, yet they are not. (2) Fruit is easy to spot. Actually, there is a third – people who produce bad fruit (which includes a tree bearing NO fruit) WILL BE cut down and thrown into the fire.
When we look at the disciples of Jesus, we see those that bear the fruit of being a true follower – they seek Him with great desire and urgency; they follow His lead; they want to be obedient to His will; they desire fellowship with other believers; they hunger for His Word; they hunger & thirst for His righteousness; they serve Him no matter the cost; they make sacrifices just to be near Him, to hear Him, to be touched by Him. We can also see those whom the Bible calls disciples of Jesus who bear the fruit that suggests they are imposters – John 6 is a good place to see these folks. They want Jesus on their terms and when following Him becomes too much of a personal sacrifice, or He leads them in a direction they are not willing to go …. They walk away from Him.
There are far too many folk who sit in church pews who consider themselves to be disciples of Jesus … when in reality … there is no fruit hanging on their branches. Sadly, many aren’t too worried about it.