How many apples?

“I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything." John 15:5 ERV

In one of the early churches we pastored, we had 3 apple trees in our yard. One was old, but still producing apples. They were smallish and not very pretty looking, but they made the best apple sauce. The second was a younger tree of the same kind which had recently started producing apples that were larger and beautiful for pies. The third tree, another young tree, produced tart green apples.

Not wanting to waste the apples, I spent many hours that fall, picking them up and canning them into the most wonderful pink sauce. I baked a lot of apple pies and dumplings that year too. My mother-in-law even took a large basket home with her But the job seemed never ending since the trees produced quite a bit of fruit! By the time the apple harvest was done, so was I. LOL!

Knowing that all those apples came from just three trees amazes me. Ane each of those trees came from just one seed. Over the lifetime of the trees, I can't begin to imagine how much fruit would be produced! But God knows and counted each apple.

Father, help me to stay joined to you so that my one life produces that much fruit. Amen.