Fruit comes from flowers. Flowers come from healthy trees.

One year, we had our beloved lemon tree pruned. In the scorching heat of the California sun, the gardener trimmed away.

Unbeknownst to us (and somehow to our tree trimmer), the peak of summertime is not the time to prune a tree. Our beautiful grandfather lemon went into shock. We saturated the ground with vitamins and water and tried to baby our tree back to life, but there came no fruit, no flowers.

Then, two years later, when spring arrived, those sweet, white buds began peeking out between the leaves. We seriously rejoiced. The flowers meant that fruit was coming, and the fruit was a sign that our 40-year-old, 30-foot tree, was still alive and vibrant.

Fruit is a sign of a tree’s health. A well-watered, well-fed, well-sunned tree will produce a plentiful harvest of juicy fruit. Likewise, producing fruit for God’s kingdom is a sign of our spiritual health. When we’re drinking Jesus’ living water, feeding ourselves with His words, reveling in His presence, we are tending to our spirit’s health.

Healthy spirits produce good fruit — fruit that takes the shape of good words and thoughts, praises and thanksgivings.