Volume 42: Stop Looking At The Leaves—judge The Fruit

STOP LOOKING AT THE LEAVES—JUDGE THE FRUIT

You cannot eat from every tree. This devotional will help you rethink everything you thought you knew about trees. And perhaps it will inspire you to study your Bible more carefully and stop consuming deception simply because it comes wrapped in leaves that look spiritual.

You can see the trunk, branches, leaves, and eventually the fruit. But you cannot see what is happening underneath the ground. You cannot see the roots reaching for water or the nutrients being absorbed and carried throughout the tree. You only know what has been happening on the inside when something begins showing up on the outside. The fruit tells the story.

ASSOCIATION DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN ABIDING

Jesus uses this same picture in John 15: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:1–2).

Notice that Jesus is talking about branches He describes as being “in me.” Some bear fruit, and some do not. Even the branches that are producing fruit still get pruned. That tells us something important: abiding in Christ is supposed to produce something, and sometimes producing more requires God to cut something away.

WHAT FEELS LIKE LOSS MAY ACTUALLY BE PRUNING

Anyone who has watched a tree being pruned knows that pruning can look destructive. Healthy-looking branches are cut and parts of the tree disappear, but the person tending the tree understands something the casual observer does not: some things have to be removed for greater growth to occur. God does the same thing with us. Sometimes He cuts away attitudes, relationships, habits, desires, distractions, pride, bitterness, or ways of thinking that are preventing us from becoming what He intends us to become. We may call it loss, while God may call it pruning.

YOU CANNOT GROW WITHOUT WATER

But a tree needs something besides pruning. It needs water and light, and Scripture gives us both. Paul speaks of Christ sanctifying and cleansing His church “with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26), while Jesus tells His disciples, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). The Word washes us, corrects us, and nourishes what God is developing within us.

NOTHING GROWS IN THE DARK

Then there is the light. John tells us that Jesus is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). Just as a natural tree needs water and light to grow, we need the water of the Word and the Light of Christ. And that brings us back to the fruit.

JESUS NEVER TOLD US TO IGNORE THE FRUIT

One of the most misunderstood statements Jesus ever made is, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). We sometimes use those words as though Jesus taught us never to evaluate anything about anyone. But later in the very same chapter, Jesus warns us about false prophets who come “in sheep’s clothing” and then tells us exactly how to recognize them: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15–16). And think about this: there is an entire book of the Bible called Judges. Clearly, the problem cannot simply be that every form of judging is inherently wrong. Jesus Himself said, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). The issue is not whether we judge, but whether our judgment is righteous, biblical, and free from hypocrisy. We are not qualified to pronounce what is happening inside someone’s heart because we cannot see the roots, but Jesus does tell us to pay attention to what their life consistently produces. Good judgment does not condemn a tree because of one bad leaf, nor does it call a tree healthy because it has beautiful leaves. Good judgment looks beyond appearances and examines the fruit.

GOD ISN’T IMPRESSED BY LEAVES

Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). He did not say we would know people by their leaves. Leaves can make a tree look impressive without proving that it is fruitful. In the same way, you can come to church, sing, shout, preach, teach, quote Scripture, post Bible verses online, carry a title, and appear spiritually healthy, but decorations are not fruit. The question is not simply, How spiritual do I look? The question is, What is my life actually producing?

YOUR FRUIT SHOWS UP IN HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE

Jesus makes this extremely practical in Matthew 25. He talks about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and caring for those in need. Then He says, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). In other words, some of the clearest evidence of what is growing inside us appears in how we treat people, especially people who cannot do anything for us in return.

Jeremiah made a similar point when speaking about King Josiah: “He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 22:16). God connected knowing Him with something visible in the way Josiah lived. His relationship with God produced evidence that could be seen in how he treated others. His fruit told the story.

THE BIBLE HAS REFERRED TO HUMANS AS TREES ALL ALONG

That also helps us understand why Scripture repeatedly uses trees to describe people. Psalm 1 says the righteous person “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season” (Psalm 1:3). Isaiah calls God’s people “trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD” (Isaiah 61:3). The picture is consistent: what God plants, waters, nourishes, and develops should eventually produce fruit.

GOD WILL GIVE YOU TIME—BUT HE STILL EXPECTS FRUIT

The fig tree makes this even clearer. Jesus told a parable about a man who came looking for fruit on a fig tree and found none. The gardener asked for additional time, saying, “Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it” (Luke 13:8). That is both encouraging and sobering because God understands that growth takes time. A tree does not become fruitful overnight, but neither is it supposed to remain fruitless forever. There should eventually be evidence that the water, the light, the pruning, and the nourishment have accomplished something.

GOD IS WORKING WHERE NOBODY IS LOOKING

That matters in the world we live in because our society is obsessed with what people can see: titles, platforms, followers, clothes, cars, degrees, accomplishments, and even positions in church. But God does some of His greatest work where nobody else can see it. Beneath the surface, He is developing roots, shaping character, correcting attitudes, washing us through His Word, exposing things within us that need to change, and pruning things that no longer belong. Eventually, whatever has been happening inside will show up outside.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASSOCIATION AND ABIDING

Notice something easy to miss: Jesus speaks of branches “in me,” but then commands His disciples, “Abide in me.” There is a difference between association and abiding. Abiding means remaining, continuing, dwelling, and receiving what only the Vine can supply. A branch may have the appearance of belonging to the vine, but fruit is the evidence that the life of the vine is actually flowing through it. That tells us something important: Jesus is not simply calling us to identify with Him; He is calling us to remain in Him.

Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself… no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4). That is the key.

YOU CAN DECORATE A TREE, BUT YOU CAN’T FAKE THE FRUIT

We can decorate ourselves with Christianity. We can learn the language, wear the titles, attend the services, and convince people that we are spiritually alive, but you can decorate a tree and still have no fruit. God is looking beyond the leaves and beyond appearances for evidence that we are actually abiding in Christ. Sooner or later, whatever is happening in the roots will become visible in the fruit, and the fruit will always tell the story.