Faith and Fruit

What’s your favorite food group?  Are you more of a meat person? Fish, pork, cow or chicken? Or how about some lamb? If you’re a vegetarian, that doesn't narrow things down. Vegetables, legumes, potatoes, and all their variations?  I do enjoy a nice, juicy steak with some scalloped potatoes and stir-fried veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, or asparagus (though this last gives me gas).

No, I haven’t forgotten fruit which is probably my favorite food group (though that juicy New York steak, medium-rare, does compete very closely).  I normally would have said something like cherries, oranges, and watermelon were my top fruit choices.  Strawberries and blueberries (oh, yes, blackberries and mulberries, too) also are in the top contenders.  But now that I’m out of the United States and living overseas, I have discovered so many more fruits (and vegetables) that are delicious.  I can honestly say I finally have a top, no-contender fruit that is my favorite.  And that is (drum roll) – mangosteen. The real name is mang-khut. Mangosteen is also known as the "queen of fruits" in the south Asian community, and it lives up to its name.  I wait every year for the mangosteen season to start, which is between May and September.  It’s a small fruit like the size of a plum that when you open it up, looks like a beautiful white flower.  And did I say it’s delicious?  You can easily eat one or two kilos or more in one sitting.

I like it so much that I’m trying to grow my own mangosteen trees in my backyard.  I have two.  Also, I have a coconut tree, a mango tree, and papaya (I’m not really a fan of this fruit but my wife loves it).  So far, all my fruit trees are growing well, except, of course, my mangosteen trees.  They are sad, skinny, and drooping.  A lot of the leaves are brown even though it’s been raining well.  I’ve been told that the area of Thailand I’m living in is not good for growing mangosteen trees.  But you know what?  I have faith that they will grow and be healthy.  Maybe it’s closer to hope that they will grow.  I’m no green thumb, but I’m giving them some extra tender love and care.  It may even take a few years to grow where they can start giving fruit but that’s where persistence kicks in to support my faith and hope.  So even though all I see now are two little pathetic sticks with brownish leaves, my faith is strong that they will grow to full maturity and offer that delicious purple on the outside and white on the inside fruit that I’ve come to love and enjoy.  And that’s what faith is, you know? A little hope mixed in with conviction and assurance. With that kind of faith, you can move mountains as the verse goes…

·       Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. (Matthew 17:20)

·       Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:10)

·       If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

·       What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

So, you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.  Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? (James 2:14-20)