Dead Apple

Oh, my goodness! I walked into my kitchen and smelt a rather not-so-fresh smell. Now, if you know me then you will know that I am an orderly fellow, but not so much a clean freak. I like to have things in order rather than dusted. So, it wasn't abnormal to smell such a smell, but what was it? Well, I started looking around and finally after a few minutes of serious Inspector Gadget action on my part I found it! It was a dead, rotted, ugly, brown apple. How in the world could this have happened? I walk into this kitchen daily and I didn't smell it before. I grab bananas from the same spot that this apple was resting and still, I never saw this slow decay. Well, this had to change, something was going to have to be done to this poor dead apple. So, I did what every normal person in this same situation would do... I left it there. I mean, why in the world would I touch it? It was dead, let the apple R.I.P. Okay, I'm just kidding, I threw it away and all possibilities (reproduction, pleasing someone with its rich crisp taste, being used for an apple pie, etc) for that apple were over. And like the death of that apple, you and I can slowly die!

I'm not talking about actual physical death, because that's a no brainer... we are all going to die. No, I'm talking about the death of living life! Our lives can be like that apple that died if we allow anger, resentment, jealousy, envy and other things to rot in our souls and minds. Like that apple, we have so much potential to bring about happiness and joy to others around us, but if we have these other things holding us down we will slowly die. We will rot to the point where we cannot do anything good. See, the apple in itself can bring forth joy to a few people by being used in a pie or being eaten for breakfast or as a snack, but its seeds can also be planted to bring forth a tree that produces more fruit. Our genuine joy can cause others to do the same thing and in natural function we can bring forth much fruit! BUT, if we allow past faults of others, the lust of the eyes and other sins to chain us, we will die! So, what is to come of this apple?

Well, you have a choice... you can forgive those that need forgiveness, you can stop doing things that hurt yourself and others and then focus on being used to bring joy to others. It's amazing how much Jesus' teaching actually apply when one simply looks at life. Paul the Apostle, empowered by the Holy Spirit, writes in Galatians 5 about this exact thing (go check it out).

So, are you becoming a dead apple? I'm not!