Rooted?

Years back I helped my father plant 3 fig trees. They were the exact same size and planted at the same time. I thought they would grow the same, since they started out the same. When I look at them today, the middle one is flourishing beautifully. Lush green leaves, plenty of figs and great tasting at that. Everything you could want in a fig tree and then some!

The one on the right is good but just not as good. It gives fruit it looks nice, but its just not as great as the middle one which suprised me because they were exactly the same when planted. Its good, but not great.

Then there's the one on the left. It's a sorry excuse for a tree. It's dead, it just doesn't know it. Its barely hanging on to life by a root. IT reminds me of the charlie brown christmas tree. We should of dug it up a long time ago, but my mom hopes that one day it will live up to the potential of the two other trees.

In life we can find ourselves like one of these trees. But too often, people are like the tree on the left. They have all the ingredients for life. The potential is there! and yet they're barely hanging on. They aren't deep rooted in life.

In John 15:5 Jesus said "I am the vine, you are the branches. If any man remain in me and I in him he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing."

Fruit is the natural outflow of our lives when we have an intimate relationship with Jesus. If we want the fruit, we have to be Deep rooted in Christ.