Fw: more than fruit

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Rob Smith <toanosmith@yahoo.com>
To: Rob Smith <rsmith@mycwa.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2016 9:31 AM
Subject: more than fruit

We raise fruit trees for the fruit.  That's their ultimate purpose.  The fruit becomes our food and it seems obvious that the fruit is equal with its purpose.  But fruit trees have other benefits:  They can be beautiful just as they stand...they can provide homes for wildlife...their wood can be transformed into homes and furniture...their shade shield's from the sun's intensity.

-

As believers in Christ we seek to be fruitful.  We know that the ultimate is to lead others to faith...to be fruitful spiritually.  But as I considered the beauty of trees the other day it occurred to me that there is daily beauty in being a Christian.  We are beautiful as we stand...gracious in our care...forgiving in our nature...sheltering in our protection of the vulnerable.  Ultimately we long to bear fruit...the sweet fruit of salvation in others.  But just as a forest of tall trees is beautiful apart from the pine cones and acorns they produce there is beauty and glory for the Lord as we move through our days.  The tree in the picture is the actual church location for friends we met in Kenya...talk about a purposeful tree!

-

Psalm 72:¹⁶ May there be abundance of grain in the land;
    on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
    may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
    like the grass of the field!

-

blessings,

Rob Smith