November 14, 2007
A great one-liner came attached to an email I received recently and it contained great wisdom. It said simply "God wants spiritual fruit not religious nuts."
Simple and profound, but how do we tell the difference? I think we can start by looking at the Scripture on the fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
Contrast that with the rebuke Christ gave the Pharisees (who were extremely religious)
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matthew 23:27-28 NIV
Is our walk with the Lord bearing spiritual fruit or has it become a ritual and an appearance of righteousness? Does our walk allow our weakness to show so that Christ’s strength will shine, or do we hide our own sin and look down on the sin of others?
Are you a repentant sinner, with the love of Jesus shining through into the love of others or self-righteous and condemning others? The former is spiritual fruit, the latter a religious nut. Which are you?
2 Corinthians 13:5-6-Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. KJV
Darrel Mason