Philip Dampier's Blog

Chapter 3, Verses 11-12 “Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”

James is not about making fun of his listeners understanding of basic principles he just uses this extreme way of stating the obvious. Then he states the obvious. Fresh springs produce fresh water just like fig trees produce figs. We don’t expect different. We would be shocked if it were any different. As much as you might like figs you would be highly disappointed if you planted a grapevine and it produced figs.

Task for Today: Does it follow that God has the right to expect his children to produce fruit that is godly in nature and true to the original source? Yes, of course. Check your spring, your fig tree and your vine. Are they yielding true fruit, fresh water? God expects that from His people.