Apple Tree

                Imagine looking at an apple tree. Take a second to picture it. Did it have apples on it? Did it have a sign that said that it was an apple tree? What makes an apple tree an apple tree? Is it the fruit that it bears? Is it the title that we give it? Maybe there is more to it. Maybe an apple tree is an apple tree because God made it so. Maybe it has less to do with the fruit and the packaging than we think. Maybe an apple tree is an apple tree, even before we see the fruit or label the seed. Maybe there is less to do with what we see and more to do with how God made it.

                Our faith is the same way. If we plant a seed within someone, we cannot expect for them to be bearing fruits the next morning. A seed has to take root and begin to sprout. Is faith still faith, even when it is new faith? Is an apple tree still an apple tree, even when it is just sprouting out of the ground? We cannot expect for ourselves to become perfect Christians overnight. We have to let God be God and let Him grow us at His pace, just as He causes the apple seed to grow and produce fruit at His pace.

                Just because we do not see the fruit of faith, works and deeds and the fruit of the Spirit, does not mean that one does not have faith. For all that we know, their faith is just taking root and is just beginning to cultivate fruits. For all that we know, the seed inside of them has died a long time ago, as well. We will not know, just like we will not know if a seed that we planted has taken root or not until we see it outside of the ground. Things go on in our lives that we are not always able to see, but we have to have faith in God that we have taken root.

                I challenge you to think of this. If our faith is like the tree, and our works and results are like the fruit, can we expect to bear fruit the moment that a sprout pops out of the ground? No, so let us not attack anyone who is new to the faith. Let us nurture one another and let God be the one who separated the apple trees from the weeds. Let us not judge others, and let us leave it to the only one who will sit on the great white throne in the book of Revelations.


                                                                                                                                         -D