No, I am not asking if you have a garden to see how your fruit or veggies taste even though that would be a good post as well. Actually, I was referring to the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. In verse 31 it says,”…the Lord of the vineyard did taste of the fruit, every sort according to its number.” In this instance, The Lord was tasting of our fruit. What kind of fruit are we producing for our Father? What kind of fruit should we produce for our Father? and how do we get to have our fruit taste good?
We will go with the why first.
Why do I want my fruit to taste good
There are a million reasons as to why we should but I will only list one.
What does it mean to be the first-fruit of Christ? In Jacob 4:11 it states,”Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruit of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.” To be presented to our Father as one of Christ’s, is a name that King Benjamin called his people once they convenanted to obey and had zero desire to sin. The name they were called were sons and daughters of Christ (Mosiah 5:7). They chose to be able to begotten by him spiritually, to gain an inheritance to return to the presence of our Father. That is what it means to be the first-fruit of Christ, to be one of His which is a very good reason as to why we should want our fruit to taste good.
What kind of fruit are we producing for our Father
In Jacob 5:32 it states,”But behold, this time it hath brought forth much fruit, and there is none of which is good. And behold, there are all kinds of bad fruit; and it profiteth me nothing, notwithstanding all our labor; and not it grieveth me that I should lose this tree.” What does this mean for us? What kind of fruit are we producing for our Father? In the scripture above it states that we are producing all kinds of bad fruit, which could mean some are close to producing good fruit. Others might be at 50% in producing good fruit. While others might not be so fortunate.
We are to produce fruit for the coming harvest. If we are unable to produce good fruit, it will be cast in the fire. So,
How do we get to have our fruit taste good?
In the following verses of Jacob 5, The Lord was about to go down to destroy the vineyard, but the servant of the Lord said,”Spare it a little longer”(v.50). The Lord spared us, and also went to work. He grafted, pruned, digged and dunged so that we can produce the fruit that is good to be brought to our Father. What does this mean? Look at the verse in Mosiah 3:19. “For the natural man is enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ The Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which The Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” If we become submissive to the will of our Father, and be pruned of evil fruit, have good branches grafted in, and have our roots digged and dunged for nourishment, we will come “…again the natural fruit…like unto one body and the fruits were equal” and be preserved by The Lord like “…the natural fruit, which is the most precious unto him from the beginning.” (Jacob 5:74)
What do I do now
No matter where you are now in this life. It is possible for us to come back to Him. It is his plan. On my mission, I was at a conference and Elder Whetten of the seventy was teaching us. He told of a question he asked Elder Oaks. “How many do you think will be saved? 30%?40%?” Elder Oaks responded,”100%.” That is God’s plan. The Savior didn’t sacrifice himself to save only a few. He wants us all. We have to choose to have our will become his will.
You may have recently come back from repentance, or are at a plateau. No matter where you are, push like the woman did with the unrighteous Judge (Luke 18:1-8). Now go and do. Strive to do good in all things.
Your Brother in the gospel,
Tyler Smith
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