Fruit

Fruit:

An Abundance of Life 

© 2012 by Dana Leonardi. All Rights Reserved.

Have you ever thought about fruit? You plant a seed, in time it grows into a tree and then, one day fruit comes from it. The tree is overflowing with life and the fruit has to come out of the tree. The tree doesn’t struggle to produce fruit, it just abides in the soil where it was planted and fruit happens. The tree cannot stop the fruit from coming and the tree cannot keep the fruit for itself. Have you ever heard of a selfish tree? The over abundance of life in the tree manifests itself as fruit. The fruit, in turn, contains another seed, which, in turn, should produce another tree. This is the cycle of life for a tree. The fruit also provides nourishment, which sustains life for the partaker of the fruit.

Now in order for this to take place, the seed must be planted in good soil and the tree must have water and sunlight. If these conditions aren’t met, the tree may not produce fruit or it may not produce as much fruit as it should. If the conditions are bad, the tree might not survive. Also, a tree will only produce fruit after its own kind. If you plant an apple seed, don’t expect to get oranges from the tree. Don’t get mad at the tree. It’s not the tree’s fault. It is in the design of nature, which is God’s design. It is also a picture of what happens to you when you have received God’s Spirit, or God Life, in you. Let me explain further.

Look at the parable of the sower and the seeds in Mark 4. You see that the seed is the Word of God. When the seed falls on good soil it takes root and grows. This means when one hears the Word of God and accepts it in his heart, the seed will grow and one day produce fruit, 30-60-100 fold. This fruit bearing usually does not happen overnight. In fact, it is usually a long process, in the same manner that when you plant an apple seed you will not find an apple tree the next day or even the next year. It will usually take many years and going through many different seasons for the tree to mature and bear fruit. It may spring up as a small plant in the springtime only to suffer through a hot summer that may try to drain the life from it. It may lose all its leaves in the fall only to lie dormant and naked and barren through many winters in order for its roots to go deeper and deeper so as to gain the strength it will need to persevere through many more winters. As these cycles of the seasons continue, the tree continues to grow as it keeps sinking its roots deeper and deeper. Then one day you find fruit on the tree.

It is the same with us. When the seed takes root in our heart and we accept Jesus as Lord, He deposits into your spirit, His Holy Spirit. You now have the very Life of God in you. This means that you should produce fruit after the kind of seed that was planted in you. The seed is the Word of God. The Word of God is Jesus and Jesus is God (John 1:1). So you should be producing God fruit. When others partake of this fruit, their hearts become good soil to receive the seed, which in turn, will start their own cycle. This is how God produces sons and daughters in the spirit.

Just like the tree, the fruit that you should bear will usually not happen overnight. You to must also go through many seasons and many years of preparation. Some of this will not be pleasant. You will face harsh winters and summers and you may also have refreshing times. But whatever the season, you should always be driving your roots deeper and deeper into Christ. It is only there that you will receive the nourishment that is needed for you to grow. He is the vine and you are the branch and apart from Him, you can do nothing (John 15:5). If you do this, you will soon find an over abundance of Life flowing out of you which will manifest itself as fruit. We see in Galations 5:22-23, that the fruit of God’s Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and self control.

Love and is manifested in Joy (Love’s strength), Peace (Love’s security), Patience (Love’s endurance), Kindness (Love’s conduct), Goodness (Love’s character), Faithfulness (Love’s confidence), Gentleness (Love’s humility) and Self Control (Love’s victory).

This fruit, which is the Life of Christ overflowing in you, is not something you need to struggle to produce. There is no formula to follow or rules that you must adhere to. It cannot be bought or sold. It can only come by abiding in Christ. This fruit cannot come from you or be sustained by you. Just as a natural tree must abide in the soil to be fruitful, so must you always abide in Christ to be fruitful. Just as the fruit of the tree can become rotten, even this fruit can be made rotten. The most evident way is the outward corruption by the enemy who delights in destroying a healthy tree that produces fruit. Why would he waste his time on attacking one who is no threat to his domain? A more subtle way is the rotting from within. This usually is the result of pride. Just as a worm will eat the fruit from the inside out until it is useless, so it is with pride. The fruit may even look good from the outside but oh the bitterness when the fruit has been eaten. Pride may go unnoticed until the fruit has rotted from the inside out. Pride comes when you begin to think that you have produced the fruit or that you are more special because of your fruit. Remember, this fruit produces fruit after it’s own kind so to keep from producing more prideful fruit, your Lord, in His mercy, will prune you in order to cleanse you from pride. This pruning process will be most painful but will also be Grace given to you in order for you to bear more fruit. During this process of pruning, we must be thankful and drive ourselves deeper into Christ because apart from Him you can do nothing. This pruning process will also strengthen you and produce humility, which is needed to keep the fruit from being corrupted. Have you ever seen a prideful tree?

Now this fruit also has a seed in it, which will be planted in any one who partakes of this fruit. Those that partake of this fruit will also have their spirit nourished and the same cycle will take place in them. It is the cycle of life, whether in the physical or spiritual, it is how God designed us to reproduce. A man will deposit a seed in a woman and a child is produced. The child goes through the seasons of growth until the child is grown and produces more children. In the same manner, God deposits His seed (the Holy Spirit) in man. Man goes through his seasons of growth until fruit is produced. A tree produces fruit, which contains a seed that will produce another tree. The cycle of life continues.

God, man and a tree. Do you see how they all relate? God created man in His image. God manifested Himself as a Tree (the Tree of Life in the garden of Eden). The fruit of this Tree was God life which man was supposed to partake of. Man disobeyed God and sinned and was separated from God. God then humbled Himself and became a man and paid the penalty for mans sin, which was death, by taking mans sin upon Himself and being crucified on a tree (the cross). When man embraces this cross and partakes of the cross (the Tree of Life), he then receives the Life of God and is restored to God. God, man and a tree…so simple.   



Dana Leonardi
9-3-11