Red Bird Devotions #5

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A Tale of More Than Two Pineapples

When my daughter, Tess, was in college, she shopped at Aldi. In fact, she still shops at Aldi because my children have an almost religious-like devotion to this store. (At least I did one thing right.)  One day, as she was gathering groceries, she noticed that fresh pineapples were on sale.  Tess really likes pineapples and Tess really likes bargains, so Tess bought several pineapples (I’m not sure how many, but I know she was riding her bike home, so as many as her bike basket would hold.). When she got back to her dorm room, she told her roommate, Dakota, about the amazingly cheap pineapples; the next day, both girls hopped on their bicycles and sped back to the store to load up on the fruit.  When each girl had gathered as many pineapples as they could safely carry in their backpacks and on their two-wheeled vehicles, they paid for their purchases and made their way home.  When I visited their dorm suite and looked into their tiny kitchen, I saw the counter filled with pineapples!  I said to Tess, “What are you planning to do with all the pineapples?”  And Tess replied, “Well, we will put as much pineapple as we can into our smoothies and eat some of it fresh.  The rest, we will cut up and freeze for future smoothie making.”  I thought this to be reasonable planning.  But then Tess said, “And we are going to save the crowns of some of them so we can grow our own pineapples right here in our room,” I started to doubt the veracity of her future plans.  Why?

Pineapples are the fruit of trees deeply rooted in tropical soil, not in dirt pilfered from outside one’s Iowa dorm room and placed in an Anderson Erickson Cottage Cheese tub.  Pineapple trees grow pineapples by keeping the pineapple branches attached to the tree; pineapple crowns placed in shallow dirt in a sunless kitchen are no longer connected to the source of life which made them grow; they may shoot out a few sickly roots, but with no attachment to the actual tree, these roots soon shrivel and die.  Does this remind you of anything? 

^“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

Jesus tells us in John 15 that we must REMAIN in him if we desire to bear fruit.  If we try to produce “fruit” based on our own goodness, or achievements, or merit, our effort is like trying to plant pineapple crowns in Anderson Erickson Cottage Cheese tubs; it won’t work.  And we will wind up with withered pineapple leaves all over our table.

To grow in Jesus, we must stay attached to the vine. We must press into the "nutrient-rich" soil of his Word and pray for the flourishing of his will.  We must deny ourselves and our own attempts at growth.  We must believe that, with his Spirit in us, we can choose holiness and health. We must stay connected to our Savior. If we refuse to abide, we will be fruit-less.

If we root ourselves in the life-giving soil of Jesus, we will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him (James 1:12)!  

Oh, so much better than a pineapple crown!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Galatians 5:22-23

*You might be wondering, “Were Tess and her roomie able to grow a pineapple tree?”  And the answer is “No.” Because pineapple trees don’t grow in Iowa college dorm rooms and sometimes college students have grand plans that make no sense.