Damaged Fruit
Damaged Fruit Growing up in rural Shelby County Missouri meant spending lots of time on the farm, one of my favorite places to be. We had a farm just north of Shelbina that my dad called Beulah land and it had a small fruit orchard on it. I loved walking through and picking pears, apples, or plums then eating one after another. Nothing beat the taste of freshly picked fruit off the tree. One of the worst things though is picking a piece of fruit, taking a bite, then realizing it is rotten due to worms or birds eating on it. We, the church, are to be an orchard for the LORD. As we live out in the community, or gather together, we are to bear good fruit that others would know Christ. Matthew 12:33 says “Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad; for a tree is known by it’s fruit.” (CSB) When we live out gospel lives, we bear good fruit as we live out the great commandment and the great commission. When we are striving to be like Christ