Fruit Galore...

As I was peering over my balcony today... hearing the rain coming closer and closer, I noticed the tree in the opposite garden, well what is left of it.  It was a big mango tree; I was looking forward to eating the fruit off it in a few months.  Unfortunately to my horror, last week they cut all its branches off... I will not be having any of its fruit... Then I looked at the smaller tree to the right of it... I had always thought it was a mango tree. But a fruit on it caught my eye. It was the only fruit on it in fact, after further inspection. And it wasn't a mango. It was intriguing, I still don’t know what fruit it was but the big red ants love that tree. 

We all know the saying: don’t judge a book by its cover... well we can’t determine what a tree is until we see the fruit.  We don’t know whether there will be bad fruit or good fruit on it until we see what is produced.  It doesn't matter if the tree is big or small nor whether there are lots of leaves or few, what counts is the fruit.  It’s not fair to cut a tree down before seeing whether the fruit is going to be good or bad... we have to wait... we have to water it..  we have to see to it that it grows healthily and then the rest is up to the tree and we may be surprised at what starts growing on it... 

Before judging, let’s make sure we have done all we can to encourage and direct each other in the aim of being a positive influence before judging things that we cannot see or determine and acting on those presumptions.  How many trees have been cut down on the brink of producing masses of sweet tasting fruit, but us in our selfishness and hindering cut the branches off, ultimately thinking that we know them better than God who created them with a perfect plan in mind... the roots may well have been soaking in the river of life...

Let’s be careful and attentive to which trees we are letting grow and which ones we are cutting down and depriving people of the fruit that was to be...let’s remember that we are to build each other up in order to change the world... 

Matthew 7.16a:  By their fruit you will recognize them.