Low Hanging Fruit
by Eric Rank (28)
If you were wandering through a forest, hungry and searching for something to eat, and you stumbled across an apple tree full of ripe fruit, what would you do? The answer is pretty obvious. If you’re like most normal people, you’d reach up and grab the nearest, best-looking piece of fruit you could find, and eat it. If there were a number of ripe apples together within reach, you might even grab a few for the road. But you wouldn’t even consider climbing up the tree to get the fruit on the top branches when the bottom branches have what you want. That takes much more effort. It’s the low-hanging fruit you’d grab.
As Christians, it is our goal to produce fruits worthy of righteousness. To Satan, this is one of the most significant things that sets us apart from the rest of the world. As he wanders around, seeking whom he may devour, the more fruit we produce, the more attractive we look to him as his next victim of temptation. We read from the Bible that Christ was tempted in tremendous ways by Satan himself because He produced such fruits. Individually, you too are a threat to Satan because you have, and act upon, the knowledge about how to live righteously. This makes you look pretty tasty! Satan will not rest in his attempts to deceive you and take away the knowledge and inheritance you have.
If the fruit you produce makes you a target for temptation, what can you do? Fortunately, the answer is simple. Don’t put yourself within Satan’s grasp! If you’re producing fruit worthy of righteousness, make an extra effort to do so on the top branches of the tree. God tells us to draw near to Him, and that He will draw near to us. This places you far out of Satan’s reach because he knows that it would take too much effort to tempt you. No matter how much fruit you produce, if you open yourself up to temptation, the game is over. Vulnerability to temptation places you at the lowest branches of the tree, where Satan can pluck you off easily, and devour! As a Christian, it is your duty to produce righteous fruit, but it is also your responsibility to draw near to God. Doing so will keep you out of Satan’s reach as he hungrily wanders about.
