Reason #740
"Even though [an apple tree] will occasionally produce a deformed or underdeveloped apple, the tendency to bear good fruit is there and increasing yearly. As a result, I consider it to be a good tree." - Conversation Peace, Mary Kassian
They say one bad apple ruins the bunch. I never really knew why, honestly, but I believed it. I suppose it kind of has to do with that whole wide and narrow path theory. After last week, I definitely felt defeated. I felt like I was made up of so many bad apples, and I couldn't even find a good one. Ruined, I thought. There were too many things to filter through, too many things that needed changing and improvement, and it seemed like this tree was in dire need of help.
Maybe you're like me and you've produced some bad apples. We've all had and taken opportunities to make wrong choices. We've said mean things, thought bad thoughts, acted out of selfish ambition, lost our temper, held grudges, and done things we wish we wouldn't have. Bad apples fall from our branches, and sometimes that's all we can see. They pile up at our feet, the rotting stench filling our noses. We look down and we realize what we've done. We've wasted our apples, we've let them be ruined. Now, it's too late. We can't take them back. We can't pick them up and put them on the branches in hopes to turn things around. The apples lay on the ground. Apples that could have been used for good have lost their purpose. Apples that were once full of life, of potential and possibility are no more.
But the thing is, all trees will produce a bad apple every now and then. The key is to produce more good apples than bad. After all, it'd be pretty extreme to uproot and kill a tree that had a whole carton's worth of good apples just because it had one or two mishaps, wouldn't it? Because that tree is still useful. It is still serving its purpose. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's growing and producing and that's what's important. And when I read the above quote in my bible study lesson last night, my heart was encouraged. Just because you've produced a bad apple or two...or three, or four... doesn't mean you're too far gone. Really, the beauty of it is that once those bad apples have fallen to the ground, we have room to produce new, good apples. They aren't taking up space on our branches any more, and the opportunity to produce something ever better has arrived.
So kick those bad apples to the side. Remember what they cost you, and chose to produce good ones going forward. God is faithful to give us new seasons of production every year, and so don't be discouraged if the last season didn't go as well as it could have. If that's the case, then dig your roots down even deeper in Him. Plant yourself firmly in Christ, and you'll be sure to produce the most productive, beautiful, beneficial fruit possible. One bad apple doesn't have to ruin the whole bunch. You're the one who gets to determine that.
#740 - Because He forgives our bad apples and helps us produce productive, beautiful, beneficial ones instead.
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." - Jeremiah 17:7-8
They say one bad apple ruins the bunch. I never really knew why, honestly, but I believed it. I suppose it kind of has to do with that whole wide and narrow path theory. After last week, I definitely felt defeated. I felt like I was made up of so many bad apples, and I couldn't even find a good one. Ruined, I thought. There were too many things to filter through, too many things that needed changing and improvement, and it seemed like this tree was in dire need of help.
Maybe you're like me and you've produced some bad apples. We've all had and taken opportunities to make wrong choices. We've said mean things, thought bad thoughts, acted out of selfish ambition, lost our temper, held grudges, and done things we wish we wouldn't have. Bad apples fall from our branches, and sometimes that's all we can see. They pile up at our feet, the rotting stench filling our noses. We look down and we realize what we've done. We've wasted our apples, we've let them be ruined. Now, it's too late. We can't take them back. We can't pick them up and put them on the branches in hopes to turn things around. The apples lay on the ground. Apples that could have been used for good have lost their purpose. Apples that were once full of life, of potential and possibility are no more.
But the thing is, all trees will produce a bad apple every now and then. The key is to produce more good apples than bad. After all, it'd be pretty extreme to uproot and kill a tree that had a whole carton's worth of good apples just because it had one or two mishaps, wouldn't it? Because that tree is still useful. It is still serving its purpose. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's growing and producing and that's what's important. And when I read the above quote in my bible study lesson last night, my heart was encouraged. Just because you've produced a bad apple or two...or three, or four... doesn't mean you're too far gone. Really, the beauty of it is that once those bad apples have fallen to the ground, we have room to produce new, good apples. They aren't taking up space on our branches any more, and the opportunity to produce something ever better has arrived.
So kick those bad apples to the side. Remember what they cost you, and chose to produce good ones going forward. God is faithful to give us new seasons of production every year, and so don't be discouraged if the last season didn't go as well as it could have. If that's the case, then dig your roots down even deeper in Him. Plant yourself firmly in Christ, and you'll be sure to produce the most productive, beautiful, beneficial fruit possible. One bad apple doesn't have to ruin the whole bunch. You're the one who gets to determine that.
#740 - Because He forgives our bad apples and helps us produce productive, beautiful, beneficial ones instead.
"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit." - Jeremiah 17:7-8