All plants and trees produce “fruit” or “seed” like itself.

In last weeks editorial we talked about “trees” and I’d kind of like to followup on that topic only include all “plants.”  And a key passage to remember as the basic thought for today’s study is found in Gen. 1:11-12 where it tells us that all plants and trees produce “fruit” or “seed” like itself.  Keep this in mind as we go through the lesson.

Basically there are good, beneficial plants which of course, yields good and beneficial “fruits.”  And, there are “weeds” - bad “plants” which also yields “fruit” however it’s like themselves - bad.  Metaphorically, in our lesson today, good “fruit” is from God and bad “fruit” is the produce of the devil.  Likewise, good “fruit” equals righteousness and “weeds” equal sin. 

Well, how do we know if it’s a good plant or not?  How can we tell a good plant from a “weed?”  The Bible provides us the answer.  In Matt. 7:16, Christ speaking there in His sermon on the mount says, “by their fruits you’ll know them.”  It’s by what they produce that you can tell a good plant from a bad one.

He gives us an example of how this works when, just prior to saying how to identify them, He talks about “false prophets.”  How do we determine whether a prophet is a true prophet or a false one?  Or, whether that’s really a “sheep” or a wolf dressed-up to look like one?  (Verse 15)

And, as we know all too well, there are a lot of people in the world today “dressed-up” like Christians only they’re really not.  Which is why a few verses further on, Christ said that not everyone who says “Lord Lord” (dressed-up in religious clothing) will be saved.  (Matt. 7:21).

So, the answer to our questions is “by their fruits” IE: what they’re producing.  What they are “doing.”  Let’s turn over to the 5th chapter of Galatians for more scriptural thoughts on this, keeping in mind that both good and bad plants (weeds) exist in this earthly garden we inhabit.  Notice in verses 19-21 that Paul identifies the “weeds” first and calls them the “works of the flesh.”  He then gives a litany of what bad plants produce.

Let me interject a thought here.  Do you know why weeds are bad?  It’s because they are a detrimental plant, whereas good plants are beneficial.  Weeds are defined as being “noxious” plants, which means plants that are harmful, injurious, unwholesome and unhealthy.  When you read the list of what the “works (plants) of the flesh” produce it’s easy to see why they are “noxious.”  How non-beneficial or unhealthy they are.

But then in verses 22-23 we see the contrast between good plants and weeds.  The “fruit of the Spirit.”  Note the benefits to the world as opposed to the detrimental products produced by “the flesh.”  Instead of having “hatred, wrath” and all sorts of crimes against society, you have “love, joy, peace,” etc.  I ask you, which “fruit” is good and beneficial and which is bad and harmful?

Since we’ve used it several times already, let’s look at the word “produce” for a moment.  A dictionary will tell you that it means things like “to create, to bring forth or to yield.”  Doesn’t that pretty much fit the picture Paul painted in Galatians? 

But, there’s also another meaning relating to agriculture and what we find in the grocery stores.  That “produce” collectively means vegetables and fruits.  The “produce” that, metaphorically speaking, relates to good fruits.  The “fruits of the Spirit.”  As previously stated, all plants “produce” (yield or bring forth) fruits, but only certain ones provide the useful and beneficial “produce.”

The premise of our lesson today is that every person is a “plant.”  And, as such, we produce “after our own kind.”  So then, what kind of plant are we?  Are we a plant yielding good fruit, or are we a “weed?”  Perhaps it depends upon what we “take in.”  Where our nutrients come from that makes us either one or the other.  In thinking about this aspect, I’m reminded of the words of Paul in Phil. 1:11 where he speaks of being “filled with the fruits of righteousness.”  The equation being that, if we’re fed with the “fruits of righteousness” we’ll produce that same fruit.

Then brings me to another question/thought.  If we produce “seed” like ourselves, are we helping of harming God’s plan of salvation for mankind?  In answering that we need to keep in mind that all of us once produced “bad” fruit, the proof of which is seen in what Paul wrote to the church in Rome.  In Romans 6:21-22 he says that we were “servants of sin” and that we produced fruit to be ashamed of.  But now we are “servants of God” and as such, we produce “fruit of holiness.”

See, that’s what is so great about the gospel.  We don’t have to remain a bad plant - a “weed.”  We don’t have to yield harmful or detrimental fruit.  We can be good plants and then our fruit will be beneficial both to God and the world around us.

I don’t know if you’ve ever considered this passage in the perspective of our subject matter today but, in closing this lesson let me refer you to 1 John 3:9-10.  In paraphrasing John’s words there, notice that if we’re a plant of God, we’ll produce a Godly “seed” (fruit).  And, by that “seed” (fruit) the “children of God” can be recognizable from the “children of the devil.”

Just always remember, each one of us is a “plant.”  Are we a “good plant” or are we a “weed”?  We can know which one we are by the “fruit” that we bear.  And how valuable is our “fruit?”  Does this answer the question: “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”  (Matthew 7:19-20)

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey