Daily Devotional

I was blessed to have an apartment-dwelling mother who knew nothing about growing fruit and everything about enjoying it. So, it was not unusual for me, a week after her death, to plant an apple tree in my backyard as a tribute to her fruitful life. In fact, to this day we call it the Nanny Tree. Like my mother, I also grew up in the city. I knew little about apple trees, other than enjoying their fruit, some of which I stole from neighbors’ trees or the corner store. (But that’s another story.)

My first harvest of the Nanny Tree proved disappointing. The fruit was substantial, but most of the apples were marked with little brown circles. My inexperience did not prepare me for that first disgusting bite, as I bit into a worm. I came to learn for myself what most fruit growers know: The only thing worse than finding a worm in an apple is finding half a worm!

I asked a friend, who is an expert in field crop production, to tell me about my rotting apples. She quickly diagnosed the problem. “It’s Codling Moth.” At first, I thought she said “Cuddling Moth,” but there is nothing cuddly about this little critter. Its Latin name, she explained, is Cydia pomonella. Even that sounds like something you might name a pet. But this moth is evil to the core (pun intended). It is found almost worldwide and brutally attacks pears, walnuts, and other fruit trees. Those Mama Moths had the gall to lay their tiny eggs on the surface of my apples—you know, the ones I dedicated to my deceased mother!

Their baby larvae burrowed their way from the surface to the core. Those little creatures ate away at my mother’s apples until they grew to just shy of an inch in length. Then, like ungrateful teenagers, they decided to leave home and dig their way out. Like all spoiled children, they left a rotting mess behind. I also expect they left the nest and grew up to become pupae, entering the cocoon stage where they emerged looking and acting just like their insect parents—those apple-destroying pests!

Since I had not treated my apple tree with pest control products before Mama Moth and her Evil Sisters landed, there was really nothing I could do. Once the larvae started destroying, it was a done deal. I was doomed to have wormy apples. I had no one to blame but my own ignorance and negligence.

One season, however, I got prepared. God brought into my life farmer-friends who knew what creepy-crawler products are safe and effective. My backyard turned into a battleground, with me as the Codling Moth Terminator.

What does all this have to do with sin, especially anger? After over five decades of pastoral ministry, I have observed that few things destroy the fruit of a Christian’s testimony more than unrighteous anger. In fact, it is a major problem even among “peace-loving” Christians. Many of my friends in ministry agree with my observation that a great majority of our pastoral counseling situations are rooted in some form of ungodly anger. One cannot argue that anger truly is the worm eating away at the fruitfulness of many believers’ lives.

Once the invasion force of unrighteous anger, in its many forms, lands on the outer skin of our unprepared and unprotected hearts, it burrows its way to our core, joins the corrupted seed already there, until it grows and emerges as an army of fruit-destroying pests in our lives and the lives of others. It’s time to face these head-on, beginning with a close-up look at the enemy. We will then develop a strategy to seek and destroy them. I assure you; it is not going to be a pretty sight. Victory, however, will taste so sweet!

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation