Are You Bearing Fruit?

The bible says that it is to the Father's glory that we bear much fruit. I remember praying as a young girl, asking Jesus to come into my heart and life, but after that prayer, was there really a difference in my life? Could people see the change in me? Was my life really bearing any fruit? What does it mean to "bear fruit"? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Can people see a change in your life? Are you bearing any fruit? Here we are gong to answer all these questions.

The bible says that God created everything. It says that He is so powerful that He simply spoke and created the light. Even as a young girl, hearing that story, I knew that I wanted to know more about God. I remember learning about how He created the land, the sea, all the animals, and even the first human beings. As a girl, one of my favorite stories was the story of the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was where God placed Adam. Adam was a man that God created from dust and breathed the very life into.

I remember laying in bed at night picturing a magical place where God had walked with man. I pictured a glorious garden of trees full of luscious fruit. The fruit on these trees were huge and juicy. I used to imagine living in such a beautiful place.

Growing up, my family used to spend a lot of our summer vacations visiting my Aunt Rheta and Uncle Ernest's home in sunny southwest Florida. They had a lot of property and on part of it they grew orange trees, tangerine trees, and grapefruit trees. As a child, I can remember running up and down the rows of trees, able to pick which ever one I wanted. I think this memory helped me picture a little of what the Garden of Eden might have been like. In my mind, however, there were no spiders, rotten fallen fruits, fruit flies, or any broken or dying branches. I pictured perfect, juicy fruit. I pictured trees so strong, that despite the enormous amounts of fruit and despite the fact that this fruit was so luscious and juicy, the trees were still strong enough to hold the weight of all the delicious fruit.

As with most stories, the beauty was disrupted with evil. In the midst of the beautiful Garden of Eden was a tree. The tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had placed Adam in the garden and told him that he could eat of any tree in the garden, but not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or he would surely die.

God told Adam that it was not good for him to be alone and so he created for him a woman. Eve, also known as the mother of all living, was the woman that God made for Adam. God actually took one of Adam's very own ribs to make Eve. She was literally made from part of Adam.

Imagine living in such a beautiful place, having so many wonderful things to eat, the companionship of another human being, and far more importantly, being able to walk and talk and commune with God, your Creator, the One who breathed the very life into you. What more could you possibly want?

If you have ever tasted sour milk, or even had a bite of something that has spoiled, you know how sick it can make you. Well, just as a taste of something bad can make your body sick, a taste of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil would make Adam and Eve so sick it would lead to death. It would not only corrupt them but it would ruin this beautiful place for them. This one act of disobedience would lead to separation from God, for not only them, but for all of humanity. They would no longer be able to walk in the Garden and commune with God as they had once done. Why would you sacrifice everything good for one simple act of disobedience, for one piece of fruit? So many times in our lives, we sacrifice all the good things that God has for us by letting one little sin creep in and before we know it is ruining and ruling our lives.

I want you to think about your life. You are a beautiful creation of the Lord God Almighty. He designed you for a specific purpose. He sent His son to die for your sins. Have you accepted the free gift of salvation that God has offered to you?

We have a moral standard that God has built into us. We know it is wrong to steal, kill, lie. We actually feel guilt when we do these things. In the old testament, God gave us the ten commandments. I encourage you to get a bible and look them up. They are in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 20. For example, one of the ten commandments is that we should have no other gods before God. I know that I am guilty of this. I often put my own selfish desires before God. I watch too much television, spend too much time doing selfish things, the list goes on and on. This is just an example of how I do not measure up. We all have sin in our lives that make us guilty and unclean. This is why Jesus came. He came to set us free. If you haven't confessed your sins and accepted the grace of His forgiveness, I invite you to do so now. Simply, talk to Him. Tell Him you are a sinner and you need Him. Confess that He is Lord. If you have accepted His forgiveness, I want to challenge you with a question. Have you allowed Christ to trasform your life?

As I mentioned before, it says in the bible that it please God that we bear much fruit. Matthew 7:18-23 also talks about how we are recognized by the fruit that we bear. If your life is bearing bad fruit, then that should tell you something. If you are child of God, you will begin to see the evidence in your life. When we become saved the Holy Spirit actually dwells in us. In Galatians 5:22-23 it tells you what the fruits of the spirit are. I encourage you to look these verses up.

Here is a list of the fruits of the spirit:

Love

Joy

Peace

Longsuffering

Gentleness

Goodness

Faith

Meekness

Temperance

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