Fruit of Repentance
Time
When I was in grade school
There was a boy who loved to pick on me and mocked me as a Christian
Later on in life
When I was about 30, this person became a Christian and came to my church
His life was changed and we became best of friends and trust was restored
Now he lives in Oklahoma and I have not seen him in years
He is still my friend, but the important thing is, he is God’s friend
Living his life for Christ, and others are tasting the good fruit
Time
It takes time to see fruits of repentance
It also takes our forgiveness in hopes that a life will become fruitful
You and I may not benefit from the fruit of repentance
But we can rejoice when the fruits of repentance
Honors Christ and are tasted by others
Time
I love fruit.
Being in Florida for the winter,
I get to enjoy fruits there before those in Ohio.
While the snow is still on the ground in Ohio,
strawberries are red in the fields of Florida.
I also love melons.
I bought several melons in the month of March.
But all of them were picked
before they were ripe.
It took days for them to sit and ripen
till the hard fruit softened and
you got the sweet taste.
Time…
There are some things you can’t rush.
I bought two melons and cut them up
and put them in the refrigerator.
They were hard and the flavor was not good.
I would take out the container each day and
taste a few bites, but with disappointment.
After about a week the sweet taste got better.
But then I left to go back to Ohio before
I could tell if the fruit would get a good taste.
Fruit takes time to develop.
Think about John the Baptist’s words
to the Pharisees and Sadducees,
these were religious leaders.
He gave them strong warning and told them…
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
Matthew 3:8
These leaders spent a lot of time,
many their whole lives, studying and
memorizing Scripture and spiritual matters…
Yet had no fruit.
Over time you can grow a tree or plant,
but that does not mean it will produce fruit.
Have you ever had someone hurt you?
The person did something that
caused you to lose trust in them.
They might have said they were sorry,
but you still did not have the
confidence to trust them.
Christ is clear He not only forgives sins…
But told us to do the same.
In many of those cases Jesus saw their faith
and a physical healing took place in that person.
Jesus gave the person another chance.
In one case…
Jesus healed a person with an infirmity he had lived
with for 38 years and could not get off his bed.
Jesus, after healing this person, gave a warning…
"See, you have been made well.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."
John 5:14 NKJV
We are to forgive others quickly,
but the fruit of repentance takes time to mature.
Forgiveness is hope.
Hope that someday the sinner will
have truly repented and bear fruit.
When I was in grade school…
There was a boy who loved to pick on me
and mocked me because I was a Christian.
Later on in life…
When I was about 30, this person
became a Christian and came to my church.
His life was changed and we became best
of friends and trust was restored.
Now he lives in Oklahoma and
I have not seen him in years.
He is still my friend, but the important thing
is he is God’s friend, living his life for
Christ, and others are tasting the good fruit.
Time…
It takes time to see fruits of repentance.
It also takes our forgiveness in hopes
that a life will become fruitful.
You and I may not benefit from the fruit of repentance...
But we can rejoice when the fruits of repentance
honors Christ and are tasted by others.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 3:7-10 NIV
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
