We enjoyed gardening when we lived in California. Every year we would harvest a variety of produce from our small garden beds. One of my favorite photos from that time shows our son holding up a head of broccoli bigger than his own head. We also planted some fruit trees. But we didn’t label some of them and couldn’t remember which ones were peach and which ones were nectarine—until they produced fruit, that is.
In Luke 6, Jesus isn’t just talking about trees. He’s talking about people. People can be known by what they produce. On the outside everything can look good, but the fruit that is produced might not be as pleasant as the outward appearance.
Faith has a way of producing fruit in us. Faith that is founded on strong roots in God, his promises to us, his Word in us, faithful prayer, and a community of believers around us can’t help producing the fruits of justice, peace, good news, grace, love, and forgiveness. Good trees bear good fruit, and bad trees bear bad fruit.
What kind of fruit is faith producing in you? If the produce of your life isn’t very good, it’s time to take a look at the tree of your life. Take a look at what roots you have, and begin to develop the good roots of faith provided by Christ. When the roots are good, the fruit can’t help being good as well.
Father, help us to examine the fruit of our lives. Fill us with faith that is strong from the roots up so that our fruit will be good and pleasing to you. Amen.
About the author — Bret Lamsma
Bret Lamsma is director of faith formation at a church in Denver, Colorado, and has served churches in Michigan and California in youth, inter-generational, and educational ministries. Bret and his wife, Julie, have two children, and he enjoys hiking, camping, and visiting national parks with his family.
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