True Vine • Devotion 4

Good vs. Fallen
Joe Wilson

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8

As I sit here this morning studying these words, I cannot escape the imagery of a nice bright red apple still on the tree just waiting to be harvested and used for good. I am thinking of a nice warm homemade apple pie with some freshly churned vanilla ice cream.

Now picture this, you are walking underneath the apple tree looking up at the “good fruit” with great desire and hope for what is to come. Have you looked down? There are rotten apples that will, no doubt, be lying around waiting to be stepped on, thrown away, or in the King James Version verbiage, “purged.”
 
Looking back over the past 20 years or so, I see where I have had instances where I have confused the two. I mean, the fallen fruit lying on the ground rotting away is still fruit, right?

Matthew 7:17-18 says, “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.”

I believe God’s inspired Word clears this issue up for us. Good fruit is full of hope, to be desired, and profitable in our walk with Christ. Fallen fruit is diseased, rotten, and decayed.

Without Christ, it is impossible to bear good fruit. John 15:5 adds, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

I caution you today to truly take a look at what we are calling “fruit.” Is it good fruit or fallen fruit? Is it profitable or is it rotten? Is it from God or from ourselves?

Matthew 7:16 says, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

My prayer for all of us is that we bear good fruit and at the same time be cautious of the fallen fruit.