When Jess and I first bought our house, the previous owner told us about this ‘random fruit tree’ in the backyard. It was just a baby when he bought the house 15 years’ prior and had grown into a little tree while they lived there, but had never actually produced any fruit so he wasn’t even sure what type of tree it was. He advised us to rip it up, if we wanted, because “it’s pretty, but basically useless.”

Not sure why, but we decided to keep the little tree.

Last week, Jess and I were enjoying being outside for a little with our puppy, when he ran up to us with something in his mouth. Scared it may be something he shouldn’t be gnawing on, I quickly took it away only to find it was… a peach? Where in the world had he gotten a peach? Our backyard is fenced in, we don’t buy peaches, and – as far as we knew – didn’t have any access to homegrown peaches.

I glanced around and saw this ‘random fruit tree’ was overloaded with peaches. There were easily a good 50 peaches growing on this tree, a handful of them already ripe and ready to eat.

We were definitely shocked at our discovery, but it was a pleasant surprise. Peach cobbler, here we come! 😉

As the past few days’ have gone by, I thought more about the ‘rebirth’ that had taken place on this tree. Where there was previously no fruit was now overloaded with fruit. Where the previous owner had given up on the tree and recommended we just rip it out, we had let it do its thing. Now, we have to pick it almost daily just to make sure our dog doesn’t eat them (the pits are dangerous for dogs).

That kind of rebirth is similar to what God wants to do in our lives. He gives us resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:57). He gives us new life (Ephesians 2:1-6). He wants us to bear fruit for Him (Matthew 7:16-20).

When we come to Him with humility, asking for forgiveness and accepting Him as Savior, He provides a rebirth where our sins and past mistakes are washed away and we can start anew due to His wondrous grace and undeserving mercy.

Even if we feel we will never produce fruit, or that we have gone too far down the wrong path and others have given up on us, God is still faithful and still calling us home. He still sees a masterpiece where we see a mess. He sees the finished product while we see the chaos of the struggle.

He sees the rebirth while we only see the death.

He is the creator of new beginnings, fresh starts, and beautiful masterpieces. Don’t give up on Him, as He hasn’t given up on you.

You just may be a late bloomer.