A choice variety of plum was purchased and set out in a
certain garden. When the tree came to maturity, to the keen
disappointment of the owner, there was no fruit on its branches.
Investigation showed that the fault was not in the tree. The
land in which it was planted proved to be barren and lacking in
proper nourishment.
A tree growing in poor soil can not bear, because it requires
all the strength it can extract from the soil to barely sustain
its life. It takes all the virtue there is in the soil to
support the head and foliage so that the fruit is literally
starved out.
There are church-members who branch into Christian profession but who
are rooted in the world. Such will bring forth nothing but leaves.
(Text.)
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