as spring turned to summer, the limes multiplied and my mom noticed they were turning yellow. she wondered were the limes going bad? over-ripe? or could it be that they are actually lemons? my mom laughed at the mysterious fruit tree, excitedly plucked some of the most yellow fruit from the branches, and made fresh lemonade.
you won't believe what happened next. those big yellow lemons got bigger and bigger until finally they were a pretty shade of orange and the branches could no longer hold the weight of them. big orange fruit littered the ground underneath the tree. my mom wondered again- were the lemons over-ripe? or could it be that they are actually oranges? she happily gathered up the orange fruit, peeled it, sliced it, and served it in fruit salad.
in the span of a few months, that little tree on the side of her house gave her limes, lemons, and oranges that year. was it a lime tree? a lemon tree? or an orange tree? all caught in an incomplete state of growth? the humid coastal air and salty soil creates a unique atmosphere for flora to thrive and grow in ways very different than it does inland. but we all know there's no way can that one tree produce all three fruits.
now, after eleven years of watching that tree grow and produce fruit each year, my mom has discovered it is, in fact, a lemon tree. the tiny green fruits that first grow look like limes, but are bitter, acidic, under-ripe lemons. and when they are over-ripe, they turn orange and are soggy rotten inside. when they're yellow, though, they are perfectly ripe lemons- juicy, tangy, and a little bit sweet. and now that my mom knows it's a lemon tree, she knows to wait for the yellow to harvest.
i read Luke 6 recently and when i got to the part about trees and fruit i thought of my mom and the tree that gave her all kinds of fruit.
"A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes." (Luke 6:43)
limes are never gathered from lemon trees. oranges are not picked from lemon trees. under-ripe lemons look like limes and taste bitter and acidic. the lemons aren't ready yet. they aren't to their full maturity. they need more sunlight, more water, more time for growth. but keep reading. Jesus isn't just talking trees and fruit. he's being metaphoric here, and per usual, he brings it home and makes it about us:
"A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:45)
if we are like trees, our words and our actions are like the fruit Jesus is talking about. just as good fruit comes from a good tree, good thoughts, good words, good deeds, are the product of a good heart. and an evil or rotten heart produces evil things, or rotten fruit.
in any given circumstance, our first thoughts and words are like under-ripe fruit. most of the time, our initial thought-reactions to situations are underdeveloped and immature. like the tiny green fruit that was bitter and acidic, our thoughts and words can be judgmental, harsh, and selfish. they need more light (Jesus), more time to grow (patience), and to cultivate (prayer). we're called to take our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and be slow to speak (James 1:19), to give our fruit - our thoughts and words - time to ripen, mature, and develop healthily.
i have seen this fruit ripening process in action during my time serving on the Declare team. in planning the event, if an idea is proposed, instead of acting on it or making a decision in haste, even when we're on a tight deadline, even if it is a super great idea, someone always says LET'S PRAY ABOUT IT FIRST. let's make certain that this idea lines up with God's plan for the event. it is amazing AMAZING to witness the Lord bless that obedience time and time again. imagine if we did that with every single thought/idea that came into our heads in every aspect of life! wow.
i have seen this fruit ripening process in action during my time serving on the Declare team. in planning the event, if an idea is proposed, instead of acting on it or making a decision in haste, even when we're on a tight deadline, even if it is a super great idea, someone always says LET'S PRAY ABOUT IT FIRST. let's make certain that this idea lines up with God's plan for the event. it is amazing AMAZING to witness the Lord bless that obedience time and time again. imagine if we did that with every single thought/idea that came into our heads in every aspect of life! wow.
my mom didn't know what kind of fruit her tree would produce because she didn't plant it - it was already there when they moved into their house. but we can be certain of the kind of thoughts, words, and actions we will produce by planting the right seed. Luke 8 tells us that the Word of God is a seed we can plant in the good soil of our heart.
"the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest." (Luke 8:15)
i want to be the kind of tree that produces good fruit, like the juicy lemons my mom gets every spring. so i plant the Word of God in my heart as often as i can, reading and studying His promises, singing His praises, and growing closer to the Lord every day.
(you know what i think is a bad seed? the news. gossip. controversial conversations. teaching from false prophets. slander. negative self-talk. that stuff takes root in our hearts and produces fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, deception, comparison, and sadness.)
Lord, prune anything in my heart that isn't pleasing to you! i want to be careful not to speak too soon, to line my thoughts up with the Word, and to speak words that are life-giving and helpful. when you meet me, i want you to know with certainty what kind of tree i am by the kind of fruit i bear. not the immature green fruit, and not the rotting orange fruit, but the beautifully ripe yellow fruit.
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