Walking In Spirit

Day 20 – Matthew 21:18-19 and Galatians 5:22-23

This same illustration is used over and over throughout the New Testament by at least five different writers. I think my favorite account is from in Matthew 7:15-20. Here, Jesus is referring to anybody who says they are proclaiming God’s truths and precepts.

Matthew 7:15-20

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

These passages can chill you to the bone. In Galatians 5:22-23, we read that the fruit of the spirit is seen as love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Be careful though. Don’t use this as a checklist to model your life by. Instead use this as a checklist in your past actions to determine the state of your heart.

You can take a Maple tree and hang the best apples on every branch. Someone who knows nothing about trees may even come by and pick those apples and marvel at how good they are. If an apple farmer came across this same tree in his orchard, he wouldn’t be fooled for even a second because he would be able to see its true nature. Knowing that it was a Maple tree, he would cut it down and destroy it because he knows that it doesn’t belong in his orchard. An evil man can outwardly show all of these signs of the fruit of the Spirit; but in the end God knows the heart and the difference. In Proverbs it says that even the plowing of a wicked man is sin.

Lord, allow me this day to see beyond the leaves and branches of my outward appearance so that I may look upon my heart and the true motives of my actions. Let your Spirit rest on me and truly change me to a fruitful tree for your glory.