September 16th, 2024
My two year old daughter is currently obsessed with grapes and strawberries. As I was buying groceries last Thursday, I made sure to pick up two packs of each. When I came back home, I opened up the container to my strawberries and saw that there was already mold growing on them. I tossed them out and decided to go to another grocery store to grab some more, because having no strawberries was a battle I was not about to face.
I grabbed two more packages of strawberries, brought them home, and put them in the fridge. The next morning, I opened them up to cut a few for her and what do you know, more moldy strawberries. I had to take a moment to separate the moldy strawberries from the batch. And it got me thinking how God does the very same thing in us.
There's a powerful moment in scripture when David asks God to test Him.
He says in Psalm 139:23-24:
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way."
David is basically asking God to reveal the moldy strawberries in his life. He's asking Him to reveal the areas in his heart that are offensive to God, which means they need to be tossed out and replaced with better fruit.
On this side of heaven, God will always be refining us. With each day He is searching us and making us look more like His son Jesus.
Unfortunately, there are areas in our hearts that are a bit moldy. They don't taste good, and they need to go. It is God's job to search our hearts and lives and get rid of the bad, so He can make room for the new and good works He wants to do in us.
Maybe that moldy fruit is a relationship that is past its due date, it is unhealthy, and it is stunting your growth. It is taking you away from God rather than towards Him. Maybe it's a sin pattern that you just can't let go of. You know this thing is wrong, but you keep going back to it anyway. All the while it is slowly infecting every area of your life. Maybe it is something in you that God wants to prune. He is wanting to discipline you so that you can be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).
Whatever it is today that God is pointing out and wanting to get rid of, it's not for you to have shame over, it's actually for your GOOD.
Something I love about God's principles is that fruit never lies. If you want to know who a person is, look at their fruit. They might fool you with the words they say or the persona they put on, but their fruit: that's something that once you get a taste of, once you see, you will be able to tell whether this person is good or bad for you.
Matthew 7:17-20 says it like this:
“A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
I don't know about you, but I want my life to be full of good fruit. I want my life to be full of the fruits of the Spirit, which are “peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23).
And if there is bad fruit in my life, I want to be bold enough to pray this prayer that David prayed, and have God search me so He can get it out.
Whenever God convicts me of something, I can either feel shame about it or I can feel loved. Because it is only a Father who truly loves His kid who chooses to discipline them.
What would happen if I kept those moldy strawberries in the fridge? They would have been rotten and spoiled all the good food in the refrigerator, and I would have had a very upset toddler.
What would have happened if I wasn’t paying attention and gave those to my daughter? She would have gotten sick!
God disciplines us not for our harm, but for our good. He wants our lives to be full of abundant fruit that blesses both our lives and others, and gives Him glory. Be bold enough this week to ask God to search your heart, and see if there are any moldy areas that need to be dealt with. When He does reveal those areas, ask Him for help, and be encouraged that He loves you enough to discipline you. We live in a world where we, as Christians, can’t afford to allow our fruit to get moldy.
On the other side of getting the bad fruit out, there is now room for something much better, and because of that, the clean out is surely worth it.
I grabbed two more packages of strawberries, brought them home, and put them in the fridge. The next morning, I opened them up to cut a few for her and what do you know, more moldy strawberries. I had to take a moment to separate the moldy strawberries from the batch. And it got me thinking how God does the very same thing in us.
There's a powerful moment in scripture when David asks God to test Him.
He says in Psalm 139:23-24:
"Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way."
David is basically asking God to reveal the moldy strawberries in his life. He's asking Him to reveal the areas in his heart that are offensive to God, which means they need to be tossed out and replaced with better fruit.
On this side of heaven, God will always be refining us. With each day He is searching us and making us look more like His son Jesus.
Unfortunately, there are areas in our hearts that are a bit moldy. They don't taste good, and they need to go. It is God's job to search our hearts and lives and get rid of the bad, so He can make room for the new and good works He wants to do in us.
Maybe that moldy fruit is a relationship that is past its due date, it is unhealthy, and it is stunting your growth. It is taking you away from God rather than towards Him. Maybe it's a sin pattern that you just can't let go of. You know this thing is wrong, but you keep going back to it anyway. All the while it is slowly infecting every area of your life. Maybe it is something in you that God wants to prune. He is wanting to discipline you so that you can be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).
Whatever it is today that God is pointing out and wanting to get rid of, it's not for you to have shame over, it's actually for your GOOD.
Something I love about God's principles is that fruit never lies. If you want to know who a person is, look at their fruit. They might fool you with the words they say or the persona they put on, but their fruit: that's something that once you get a taste of, once you see, you will be able to tell whether this person is good or bad for you.
Matthew 7:17-20 says it like this:
“A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”
I don't know about you, but I want my life to be full of good fruit. I want my life to be full of the fruits of the Spirit, which are “peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23).
And if there is bad fruit in my life, I want to be bold enough to pray this prayer that David prayed, and have God search me so He can get it out.
Whenever God convicts me of something, I can either feel shame about it or I can feel loved. Because it is only a Father who truly loves His kid who chooses to discipline them.
What would happen if I kept those moldy strawberries in the fridge? They would have been rotten and spoiled all the good food in the refrigerator, and I would have had a very upset toddler.
What would have happened if I wasn’t paying attention and gave those to my daughter? She would have gotten sick!
God disciplines us not for our harm, but for our good. He wants our lives to be full of abundant fruit that blesses both our lives and others, and gives Him glory. Be bold enough this week to ask God to search your heart, and see if there are any moldy areas that need to be dealt with. When He does reveal those areas, ask Him for help, and be encouraged that He loves you enough to discipline you. We live in a world where we, as Christians, can’t afford to allow our fruit to get moldy.
On the other side of getting the bad fruit out, there is now room for something much better, and because of that, the clean out is surely worth it.
1 Comment
Well said, so very troe