Five years ago, my husband, Jason, planted two apple trees in our backyard. And for five years, not one apple grew. We had pretty much given up on them; in fact, we didn’t even pay much attention to them anymore. So when a single apple was found on one of the trees in early August, we all marveled with surprise and delight. There was finally fruit from the trees we’d almost given up on!

Of course, the kids wanted to eat the apple immediately, but I wouldn’t let them. It was from the backyard and might have bugs or worms. After all, I am accustomed to the shiny apples at the grocery store. Those apples are bigger, polished, and beautiful; even the organic varieties are still much better looking than this one from our tree. So despite the kid’s pleas, I set it on the kitchen counter for us to look at until it went bad, and then I would throw it away. But surprisingly, the apple looked exactly the same after almost three weeks. Still happy the tree had finally grown an apple, I decided to keep it longer.

Then today, I was cleaning the kitchen, and there was the apple. The thought crossed my mind that after five years, God saw fit to yield an apple from those trees…why not at least cut it open?
I washed the apple and sliced it in half. I should have taken a picture of the inside because I had prepared myself for a worm, a wormhole, or at the very least, for the apple to look unappetizing in some way. But no, the inside was brilliant white and smelled wonderful!
I sliced it up and got the kids to try it with me. I admit I was a little nervous because of some spots I saw on the skin that I didn’t know why they were there. But heck, I eat the store-bought apples all the time without a clue of what goes on with them before they get to me! We all took a bite, and low and behold, it was good.

This all probably sounds silly to you. Who in their right mind would be afraid to eat an apple right from the tree? But consider this: Eve. There she was, considering a fruit. That one was forbidden, but she decided she knew best and ate, plunging us all into darkness. And now, with all things in life, we have to really try to not see them backwards. The things that were prepared for us from the beginning now seem much less pretty than the things this world has to dazzle us.
Don’t we all know that not everything that glitters is gold? We know, but we forget! Go back to the fruit of the Spirit given to us by Jesus Christ, who died and rose again so that we can bear it. He is the true Vine, after all. The one Vine you can trust even though, at first, following Jesus may seem less pretty, less clean—even dangerous. But taste and see that the Lord is good. You can trust Him.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8