There's nothing wrong with it. Right? I mean it doesn't cause mutations or anything like that in the people who eat it. Well, I hope not. But, fruit was designed to produce seeds. It's how they reproduce. You know a fruit bearing plant is healthy when it produces fruit that contains seeds. That way, it will continue on. God said it was good for this to happen.
But my real issue isn't with items in the produce aisle.
It's with myself.
And others like me. People who say they are followers of Jesus but don't really produce fruit. Or if we do it's just the stuff that tastes good but doesn't result in more fruit. Jesus was pretty specific about this. In John 15, where he talks about being the vine and branches, he tells the disciples this;
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.He cuts off every branch...that bears no fruit. Jesus was talking to them in words that were very clear. They were understandable references. It shouldn't be that hard for us to understand this. But I suppose in the "church" there has been a tendency to over complicate the Bible. Everything gets really deep and super spiritual. There's lots of flavor, and no hard bits to really work around.
Sure there are the tough subjects, but they don't relate to me, they are about someone else. And thanks to this speaker who has had years and years of training and education, I am now more enlightened about this issue, topic, what-have-you.
We can go to "church" every week and learn more and more about Jesus and never really change. No change in us, no change in the world around us.
Seedless.
What does it matter what you know? What does it matter what I know? Knowing isn't enough. Knowing didn't spare those who mocked Noah. They laughed at their impending doom. Knowing Jesus died for us, that he showed us how to live in the kingdom now doesn't count for a hill of beans. When we hold all that knowledge in, were like the servant who buried the gold because he was too afraid to invest or take a chance with it.
You remember what happened to him? What he had was taken, and he was kicked out. Or to use the words of Jesus from John 15 he was a branch that was cut off. Please don't misunderstand. I am not talking about money, tithes, or offerings.
This is about life and not sharing it. My life. Your life. Jesus' life.
Think about this. Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road when Jesus sees a fig tree. When he sees it doesn't have any fruit, he curses it and it dies. Sounds extreme right? But there is a lesson in this that is easily lost on a culture like ours that doesn't understand the created world we live in. Jesus' actions have a reason. In the scripture the fig tree was said to have produced leaves. And based on the time of year of this story, a fig tree with leaves should have had fruit.
It didn't.
A fruit bearing tree without fruit, when all evidence suggests it should have, is pretty much worthless.
Something needs to change in me. How I look at what it means to really follow Jesus. This isn't just a rant about "mega-churches" or that sort of thing. This is about the body of Christ and how we live. Rather how we don't live.
It's time to change that. It's time for a revolution in the Church. A transformation in the Body of Christ. It's time we start bearing fruit with seeds in it.
to be concluded...
grace, peace + hope
-Bear
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