9-25-11 Fruit: Fruit that will last

Big Idea:

Movie Clip: Madagascar 2 – 55:22 – two different types of love displayed for Gloria by Moto Moto and Melman

How many of you have ever loved someone? Sure, I pray that we all love lots of people around us. Here’s my question for the day and this may seem like a really bizarre question at first. How do you know? How do you know what love is? How do you know you’ve ever loved? How did you get your definition for love? How do you know the definition you have is legit? How do you know your love is really love at all? Where did your idea of love come from?

Now, you might say, “Awe, come on Adam, give me a break, love is love and you sort of naturally know what it is. Love is kind of instinctive isn’t it?”

When I was in elementary school, I love a girl by the name of Vicki. On recess I would chase here around trying to catch her and not knowing what to do when I caught her, I tackled her. That was love for me as an elementary school boy.

By the time I got to high school, my definition of love had changed. There it was rooted more in hormones and strong urges. I loved a few young ladies, or at least I thought I did.

Then in college, my definition of love changed again when I met a lady by the name of Shannon (my wife) and fell head over heels in love with her, knowing almost immediately that I’d marry her. I didn’t’ think love could ever get any better than that, but did.

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I’m going to start off with a few easy questions and then work our way into harder ones. What fruit does an apple tree produce? Apples. What kind of fruit does a pear tree produce? Pears. What kind of fruit does a grape vine produce? Grapes. Ok, you’ve done really well. Now for the harder question. What kind of fruit were you created to produce? We know what the purpose of an apple tree and a pear tree and a grape vine is, but what is your purpose?

I was reading Genesis a few weeks ago and I came across this passage:

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground–trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9 (NIV)

Why does God put these two stories together? God had just formed all kinds of animals – birds, fish, mammals, but God doesn’t say anything about them. Instead he plants us so-to-speak with the other trees of the garden.

What’s interesting is that throughout the Bible, the authors of many of the books make references to us producing fruit.

If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb . . .Deuteronomy 7:12-13 (NIV)

When we think about it, this makes sense. The apple tree produces apples. The human being produces humans. Children are our fruit. But this isn’t the end of it. The Bible writers go on to tell us that not only is there physical fruit that comes from the womb in the form of babies, but that there is spiritual fruit that comes from the seed to God. Read the rest of this entry »