Holy Week Reflections Day 4 — Fruit Check

Read Matthew 21:17–21

Jesus wasn’t just hungry for figs, but He was hungry for fruitfulness.

In Matthew 21, Jesus sees a fig tree full of leaves but finds no fruit. From a distance, it looked alive, but up close It was empty.

And He cursed it, not because it didn’t have potential, but because it was pretending to be something it wasn’t.

This wasn’t just about a tree. It was a warning to all of us who know how to look the part without living the truth.

Let’s keep it 100: We live in a culture of selectivity, branding, and religious performances.

We praise on Sunday, but don’t forgive on Monday.

We quote scriptures but won’t serve people.

We attend church, but don't love others as Jesus loves us.

And here’s the truth: God isn’t checking your church résumé, God is checking your fruit.

Faith without fruit is fake.

You may fool people with your praise, your posts, or your platform, but God is inspecting what’s growing underneath it all.

So today’s reflection is simple: Check your fruit. Is your life bearing the kind of fruit that only comes from being rooted in God’s Word and surrendered to His will?

Because leaves don’t satisfy Jesus. Fruit does.

Here are 10 reflections to help you check what’s growing—and what’s not.

1. You shout on Sunday, but don’t do the will of the Father on Monday. A loud voice with no fruit is still empty. God isn’t checking volume, but God is checking evidence.

2. The fig tree had leaves, but no fruit. It looked alive but wasn’t bearing anything. Image isn’t the same as impact.

3. You weren’t planted just to take up space. You were created to bear fruit. Faith isn’t proven by what you say, but by what grows out of your life.

4. You’ve got leaves, but no fruit. Making a lot of stuff, but not making disciples. Busyness isn’t fruitfulness. And ministry without obedience to God’s Word is just noise.

5. Bearing fruit is not: perfect attendance, a church title, religious language, or public praise. Bearing fruit is: forgiveness, love, repentance, justice, humility, mercy, in action.

6. Looking like fruit isn’t the same as bearing fruit. You can sound deep, look holy, and still be spiritually barren. There are a lot of people talking, but not many living it out. A lot of voices, but not many examples.

7. Let your fruit speak for you. Not your appearance. Not your platform. Not your religious résumé. The real ones grow, quietly and consistently.

8. The Word is the seed, fruit is the proof it took root. If you know the Word but don’t live it, you’re not fruitful. You’re just familiar.

9. You may fool people, but you can’t fool God. If there’s no repentance, no obedience, no love, you are barren in God’s sight. And that has consequences.

10. Your race, rituals, religion, or reputation won’t save you. Only repentance that bears fruit will because God doesn’t honor what simply looks alive.