Three Trees
Imagine with me for a minute, you’re walking through a field and come across three trees.
The first tree is beautiful. Its branches are full and its fruit is vibrant and healthy. And when you taste the fruit, it is unlike anything else. It’s sweet, refreshing, nourishing. It satisfies something deeper than hunger. And somehow, after eating from it, you feel more alive than before. The seeds inside the fruit are living too, capable of planting and producing even more life.
Next to it stands another tree.
This tree is also beautiful. Its fruit looks just as appealing. At first taste, it’s also sweet and delicious. But over time, something changes. The fruit does not truly nourish you. The sweetness fades quickly you remain hungry no matter how much of it you eat. Eventually, the fruit begins to make you sick. And its seeds are only able to reproduce the same kind of fruit, one that gives no nourishment.
Then there is the third tree.
Its branches are dry and brittle. There’s no leaves. No fruit. No life.
At first glance, the first two trees appeared almost identical.
But what you couldn’t see above the surface is what made all the difference in the trees.
One tree had deep roots connected to living water. True life flowed through it.
The other tree only appeared alive outwardly, but underneath the ground its roots were weak, rotting, and disconnected from the living water.
Spiritually, I think we are surrounded by all three.
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus warns us about false teachers “You will know them by their fruits.” But what does the Bible actually mean by “fruit”? I think most people including myself would immediately think of outward actions or even the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.
But I don’t think Jesus was only talking about outward behavior. Because even unbelievers can appear kind, loving, generous, peaceful, or patient at times. They can feed the hungry and give to the poor.
So what makes fruit truly good?
Not just its appearance or only its sweetness.
Good fruit carries life because it is connected to the source of life, Jesus.
Fruit that is truly from God does not simply look good outwardly, it nourishes, gives life, and leads people back to Christ because it is connected to the Life Giver Himself. False fruit may still appear beautiful. It may sound loving. It may even seem nourishing for a season. But if it is disconnected from Jesus, it cannot truly give life because it is disconnected from the One who IS life. This is why Jesus warns us so carefully about false prophets and false believers. Not all fruit that looks alive truly carries life.
Right after Jesus warns about false teachers and false fruit, He says something that shakes a lot of believers.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 7:21
For years, I read this verse with fear.
I couldn’t understand how people who call Jesus “Lord,” prophesy in His name, perform miracles, and still hear “I never knew you”?
But I’ve come to understand that Jesus wasn’t describing people who accidentally failed Him while sincerely following Him.
I think He was warning about people who looked spiritually alive outwardly while remaining disconnected from Him at the root. Or people who were serving a False Jesus.
These people truly believed they were serving God. They used Jesus’ name. They did religious works. They appeared spiritual.
BUT there is a difference between having Jesus attached to your life and truly surrendering to Him as Lord.
Many people want Jesus for what He can give them peace, comfort, blessings, healing, purpose, help with anxiety, or simply a better life.
And while Jesus absolutely does bring peace, healing, comfort, and restoration, many people approach Him from a place of self interest instead of surrender.
The question becomes… “What can Jesus do for me?” instead of… “How can I serve and follow the Lord who gave His life for me?”
They want the benefits of Jesus without truly making Him Lord.
But Jesus did not come to just improve our lives, He came to reconnect us to God.
To call Jesus “Lord” means more than simply believing He exists or using His name.
Lord means, Master. King. Overall authority!
It means surrender.
Jesus says, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46
We can’t call Jesus Lord while we remain on the throne of our own hearts.
I also think this warning applies to false teachers preaching a false versions of Jesus.
Scripture repeatedly warns not only about false teachers, but about false gospels and even “another Jesus.”
Unfortunately not every Jesus being preached is the biblical Jesus.
Some see Jesus as
- a prophet,
- a created being,
- a good moral teacher,
- or just a servant of God.
They reject who scripture reveals Him to truly be, God in the flesh, the eternal Son, Lord, Savior, Messiah and the ONLY way back to the Father.
And that is incredibly important, because if Jesus truly is who He claimed to be, then redefining Him changes the very foundation of the gospel itself.
A false Jesus may still sound spiritual. He might even inspire devotion. He can produce outward religion and good works. But he cannot save because he is not the true Christ preached all through out the Bible.
I think this is part of why Jesus’ words are so sobering, “Many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord…’”
These people genuinely believed they knew Him. This is why knowing who Jesus truly is matters so deeply. Scripture says,
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6
Not just head knowledge but relational knowledge,because separating ourselves from the truth and understanding of who God is eventually leads us away from the source of life itself.
A false view of Jesus may still appear spiritual, comforting, or morally good outwardly.
But if it is disconnected from the true Christ revealed throughout scripture, it cannot truly reconcile us back to God.
A relationship with the true Christ cannot be replaced by religion, outward works, or a version of Jesus that people have created instead of the one scripture teaches.
Jesus did not say “I knew you once.” He said “I never knew you.”
He says only those who do the will of my father will enter heaven, so then what is “the will of the Father”?
Well Jesus actually answers this Himself
“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life.” John 6:40
And again, he says
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:29
But biblical belief is deeper than simply acknowledging Jesus exists.
Even demons know who Jesus is.
To truly believe in Jesus means to trust Him, follow Him, surrender to Him, and abide in Him as Lord.
So… which tree are you?
Are your roots deeply connected to the true source of life, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, not only Savior but Lord of your life.
Does your life produce fruit that truly nourishes, gives life, and points people back to Him?
Or have you simply attached Christianity onto your life without truly surrendering your life to Christ?
Maybe you inherited your faith. Maybe you know the language and even go to church on Sundays. Maybe you know about Jesus without truly knowing and surrendering to him.
Or maybe the Jesus you were taught was never the biblical Jesus at all, but a version distorted by satan. One that doesn’t require change or transformation. Maybe one that doesn’t hold equality with the Father.
Or maybe you are the third tree, still disconnected completely, still spiritually dry, still searching for life in places that cannot truly satisfy. Good news friend, today is the day of salvation. Cry out to him.
Jesus warned us… “You will know them by their fruits.”
Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
Not everything that looks good, sounds loving, or feels spiritual is connected to the true source of life.
Counterfeit fruit rarely looks poisonous at first but eventually, the fruit reveals the root.
And the root reveals whether we are truly connected to the source of life.
💜🤟✝️