We have a grove of orange trees. All of the trees look more or less the same to an inexperienced eye. However, the person who studies them a little can tell much more about them. They are subject to one disease that makes me think of the sinful nature which we all have.
I remember a neighbor coming to us when we first had orange trees and remarking that one of the biggest would be dead in two weeks. Its leaves were green and lovely, but, sure enough, he was right. He told us it had “quick decline” - and it surely did!
People are just like that tree. It is as though God is warning that they have “quick decline.” There is no cure for this. One by one the trees died and, just as surely, one by one, people die too.
Our neighbor explained that the old tree had what he called “sour orange root stock.” He meant that the roots were of a kind on which this sickness would work. He said the only thing to do would be to get new little trees that did not come from sour orange root stock. The “quick decline” would not affect them in any way. We planted new trees as he advised, and not one died from this disease. The difference was in the roots! They might look pretty much the same on top, but one tree had roots that could not be touched by the “quick decline.”
There are people who may look very good on the outside, but they have never accepted God’s offer to give them a new life like His own. They still have the sour root stock that they received from Adam. “As in Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:2222For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)). They need to say “yes, thank you,” to God when He offers them eternal life. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). They must give up expecting anything good from their old life and accept the new life He offers.