Matthew 3:7-3:10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Wow! Does John sound a bit irritated, if not outright angry here? He was aware of their motives and he knew it did not please God in any way. Therefore, his anger was that of a righteous nature. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Fruit is referred to a lot in the New testament. We are to have the fruits of the Spirit which would also be the fruit produced in keeping with repentance. Love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, self control. If the fruit we produce is not of the Spirit then we do not have the Spirit within us. We are told to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We must ask ourselves what our fruit is and if we are in danger of being cut down and thrown into the fire!

When I look at my own fruit, I know there is so much room for growth in all of these areas. In many of them I still feel like I am just a baby. I have been pruned on so many occassions and it can be so painful but yet I am so thankful. He has not given up on me. He knows my heart. He knows my strengths as well as my weaknesses and each day He lifts me up with new mercies and a fresh abundance of His grace.

Let us not have the motives, the hearts, of the Phraisees and the Sadducees whom are referred to as a "brood of vipers"! Let our motives and our hearts be led by the Holy Spirit! We are known by the fruit we bear. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit and neither can a bad tree produce good fruit.