The cat met me on the way to the living room. School started and so did my wife. Each year when school starts she starts teaching in Spanish in her sleep. She actually teaches in Spanish and in English. However in her sleep its Spanish. Got me, I can’t understand her.

I looked at the security monitor only to see the June bugs…(What? June bugs in August?) bang themselves into the garage door near the lights. Ahhh, a neighbor attempts to leave for work. He attempts to get into his wife’s car instead of his. He realizes his mistake. He rethinks his options and he is out of here.

Matthew 7:16- refers to knowing “the people of God” by their works. Good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit.

When I was younger I learned a great illustration regarding fruit bearing three that fit this. Even if a fruit looks good and smells good, it does not mean that it is good. My first visit to Phoenix which was to begin attending Grand Canyon University, I entered the city short of cash and big on hunger. Near the school I would be attending, and on public property was a beautiful, healthy orange tree. Being a public tree I figured that it would be allowable to pick and eat one of these pieces of fruit.

The tree was loaded with oranges. The oranges looked great. They smelled so orangey,orangie, errr orangy–you get the point. They looked so nice, firm, and they were insect free. They smelled sweet. So, I picked one and peeled it. I just couldn’t figure out why all these oranges hadn’t been picked. Then I took my first and last bite and I knew why. I almost (to be nice) barfed. It looked sooooo gooood, but it was soooooo baaaaad.

I explained my experience to church folks that were members of North Phoenix Baptist Church and who lived in Arizona for many years. They got a good laugh out of it. They explained to me that these were ornamental orange trees which were only planted to look good and only a crazy Texan like me would have tried to actually eat one. Never did that again.

Today there are too many “so called” ornamental believers if there is such a thing. They look good from the outside, but inwardly they are ravenous-bitter, etc. These thoughts led me to Galatians 5 and to read about fruits of the flesh and fruits of the spirit. We all need to look inwardly not just at those things that seem good outwardly. Are we just ornamental believers in Jesus, or do we know Him at all or, are we the real thing. Surely a good tree will bring forth good fruit both externally and internally.

Is Jesus in the process of changing your life?