SCRIPTURE: Luke 6:43-45
OBSERVATION:
1. “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit” – Jesus is very black and white here, we prefer to see more grey area. The analogy does not suggest that there is NO bad fruit, just that the majority of the fruit is good. One bad apple on an apple tree does not make it a bad tree, but if the majority of apples are bad, then the tree has a problem.
2. “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit” – This needs to be read as a life lesson, not as a scientific principle, when applied to good and bad deeds. All of us will have both good and bad fruit (whereas a thornbush cannot produce a fig). But what is the normal harvest from my life, what kind of deeds do people normally experience from me? Whether people are shocked when I do good or when I do bad depends on what they normally experience or expect from me.
3. “The good stored up in his heart… the evil stored up in his heart – This requires an investment. I need to store “the good” in my heart if I want to see it come out. If I am fiulling my heart and mind with negative, immoral, poisonous stuff, it will come out! Likewise if I dwell on what is positive, healthy, good!
4. “For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” – This is an important reminder, and should lead us to reflect on the kinds of things that come out of our mouths. Jesus is echoing what the wise man stated in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
APPLICATION:
Jesus is concerned about the heart, not about the outward performance. We can fake a good show for a while, but eventually what is inside us will come out. Most of our attention is given to outward appearance and performance. Very few people spend the necessary time developing their character. Most leadership crises come about as a result of a flawed character. We can fool people for a while, but eventually our true colours will show. So what is leaking out of my heart?
PRAYER:
Lord, I know a little of what is in my heart, but You know so much more. I can make myself look a little better, but You see me as I am. Help me to invest more energy into my heart. Help me change from the inside out. Amen.
This passage describes the fruit of the tree. We too are like trees rooted, drawing in via our roots what we believe in – growing in the Lord or growing in the world. The farmer is a fruit inspector seeing whether or not the tree produes good fruit. As people we have shed away from being fruit inspectors of people’s work because we are saved by grace and not works. True. However, I am know also by what I do. Actions speak louder than words. Actions show where my heart is and from the heart flow the issues of life! We too are recognized by our ‘fruit.’ As His disciple, my daily living for Jesus needs to be a Word and Deed ministry – heart driven!
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks unto the Holy One,
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say “I am strong”,
Let the poor say “I am rich”,
Because of what the Lord, has done for us