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What's in Your Fruit Basket?
Romans 6:21
"What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death."
When I travel to churches to preach, many of the churches will put a fruit basket in my hotel room so that I can have something on which to snack. Most of the fruit baskets have the same snacks with one additional thing that is unique to that church or area. I always enjoy looking in the fruit basket to find what is unique about that basket.
The verse above shows us that our life produces fruit. Before you got saved, your sinful works produced fruit, and now that you are saved your works also produce fruit. However, God asked the Christians in Rome what fruit they had before they got saved. Apparently, these Christians were contemplating some of the works they did before they got saved, and God wanted to remind them that the fruit of their previous works produced death. God wanted them to see that the fruit of sin is death, but the fruit of obeying and serving God produces life.
Your life is a spiritual fruit basket that has collected fruit from the different works you've performed. Let me ask you, what is in your fruit basket? If I were to go into the spiritual hotel room and see your life as my fruit basket, what would I find in that basket? I'm afraid that many Christians would be ashamed if I could see the fruits of their works. However, the fruit of your works will be revealed one day, and you had better be sure that you have fruits of which you would not be ashamed.
When we look at the fruit basket of your life, do we find the fruit of sin? Have you filled your life's fruit basket with sinful actions? Is it filled with the works of the flesh? Galatians 5:19-21 shows us the fruits of the flesh when it says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:..." Christian, look at this list carefully and ask yourself if you would really like to eat fruit that is as vile as these works. Yet, that is what many Christian produce; they produce a distasteful fruit because of the sins they continue to commit.
On the other hand, God wants your spiritual fruit basket to be filled with the fruit we find in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." When your spiritual fruit basket is filled with these works, then your fruit will be a good tasting Christian life. When the world partakes of it, they will enjoy what they taste.
Christian, be careful what you put into your spiritual fruit basket. Realize that you already tried the fruit of sin before you got saved, and you didn't like its results. Strive every day to fill your spiritual fruit basket with fruit that you will enjoy when you get old. One day you will eat, or reap, the fruit of your spiritual fruit basket. Make it a fruit that you can show without regret to your children and those whom you influence.