Our peach trees this year are covered, and it brings such a joy for me to visit and see our young plants excelling in the purpose that we hoped for them. I do not know what the future brings, but what a present pleasure for this land owner to see precious fruit form and grow ever lusciously! Neither my wife, nor my son, nor my daughter, nor I have a green thumb; if we touch a plant, its future is more miss than hit! However, here is a precious ray of happiness to our home on the hill.

On the other hand, my son pulled up two young trees in the same yard which just didn’t make it. They received the same care as the peaches but for some reason they did not bear the image of pleasure but that of death. They were discarded.

John 15:8 says, "Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples."

We are a most blessed people, especially in America. However, our biggest blessing is not that of our wonderful nation but of an all-loving God. I pray, “Lord, you have blessed me with many years, a wonderful, loving wife, two Christian adult children, a fantastic church, a true pastor to help guide me in my Christian walk, a voice to speak, a mind to reason, friends and associates that have come repeatedly to my side. I thank you for the gifts of many “things” that are valuable, and I praise You even more for those graces which are invisible, yet real, and are priceless. Now, show me what I may offer back to you!”

When my day comes, I just don't want to stand there with empty hands in that respect and say, “Lord, now here is what you gave me—nothing more. I have gained nothing; I brought no one with me. I have not tilled your graces to me in such a way as to bear any fruit or evidence. It is only I; I buried your salvation because I feared loss or embarrassment. I return to you only your pound of blessing in a napkin. My hands are not dirty but they are empty!” God forbid.

When God formed man, He breathed into Adam and Eve, and Man became a living soul. He placed His unique image into every one. We are special and exceptional! Over the years of continual sin, that image of God was tarnished like a coin buried in mud and trampled upon by centuries of neglect. Then, Jesus Christ came and made all things “new” for the Christian. When Christ formed His church, he took a handful of apostles and “breathed” in them and said receive the “Spirit”. This new breath was passed to Christians through the new birth and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Now, we have the image of Christ within us. Now, all that is required of us is that bear that image to the world and the “fruit” of our labor will be abundant.

He spoke of His death on the Cross when He said.

John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.

The Christian does not raise Him in death but in life; we do not hang Him to the Cross but we herald Him to the lost. When we lift Him today, he still draws all to Him and when our day comes we are not empty handed. This is part of bearing His image!

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, (23) meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

When we plant the graces of His blessings, the fruit we produce is our way of bearing His image. If you live love, you will never be empty handed; if you breathe joy, your heart will be ever full; when your day comes and you have practiced kindness, the bells of heaven will toll, for such is the kingdom of Christ.

This brings to mind a great Scriptural lesson for contemplation:

Mark 11:12-19 And on the next day, they going out of Bethany, He was hungry. (13) And seeing a fig-tree with leaves afar off, He went to it, if perhaps He might find anything on it. And when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season of figs. (14) And Jesus answered and said to it, No one shall eat fruit of you forever. And His disciples heard. (15) And they came to Jerusalem. And entering into the temple, Jesus began to cast out those who bought and sold in the temple. And He overthrew the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. (16) And He would not allow any to carry a vessel through the temple. (17) And He taught, saying to them, Is it not written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations?" But you have made it a den of thieves. (18) And the scribes and the chief priests heard. And they sought how they might destroy Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His doctrine. (19) And when evening came, He went out of the city.

The Barren Fig Tree In Front Of The Dirty House

Jesus was coming from Bethany. Bethany was a blessed place because Martha, Mary, and Lazarus lived there. What a blessing friends are!

The Bible says that Jesus was hungry and looked to a certain fig tree which had leaves that promised fruit but it had no fruit, and he cursed it!

Nothing In All The World Is So Disgusting To The Son Of God And So Surely Damning To Our Souls As Fruitless Religion.

As our Lord and his disciples walked along, they saw this fig tree. It stood out from all the others because, though the time of figs had not yet come, this fig tree was in full foliage. The other trees were just beginning to shoot forth their buds; but this one was large, spreading its full foliage of leaves, and waving in the wind, as if to say, "Look at me". But when our Lord walked with his disciples over to the tree to gather some figs, he found "nothing but leaves". Our Lord pronounced a curse upon the tree, and by sun up the next morning it had withered in death from its roots (Mark 11:13-14)

Then, to add insult to injury, he heads to “church!" He heads to church, and instead of God’s people seeking the LORD, Jesus observes blatant and dishonest commercialism, merchantism, and selling of religion. He gets fighting mad. Again, our Lord pronounces a curse.

The house of God is precious because God is there; we are precious because Christ’s image is in us. It angers God more for Christ’s image to be tarnished than by all the sins of the world. The glory of a tree is revealed in its fruit. You are God’s fruit tree! You are God’s house!

What do you bring to Christ today?