The Source of a Good Crop
Luke 6:43-45
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
People are like trees. People demonstrate who they are by the actions (the fruit) of their lives. Just as figs do not suddenly appear on thorn bushes, nor do apples grow on Japanese knotweed (an invasive species that grows rapidly and easily, which Debbie is trying to get out of our garden) – neither do good deeds suddenly appear in the lives of people whose pattern of life is built on doing wrong.
Pushing deeper, Jesus is saying two related things here. First, fruit takes time to show up. The flowers on the tree blossom but the fruit takes time to be produced and even longer to be ready for harvest. The full measure of what the tree can produce is not evident until harvest, but all the while quietly the fruit is being grown and brought to completion. The invitation is to give the fruit time to be produced, to let the good have chance to appear and do its work.
Second, what is inside someone will eventually come out. The true person will be at some point be revealed. That our true person will be seen in the words that come out of our mouths, or off the end of our fingers on social media, is a sobering thought. So much anger and insult are present these days in what is said and what is written, revealing the true hearts of people. The way forward is not an outward change – for any outward change begins on the inside – in the heart (the place of the will). Our mouths speak the truth about what is in our inner core.
PRAYER:
Lord God, we want to bear good fruit in our lives. Change us from the inside out, that our words – both spoken and written – would bear witness to your action in our lives. Come to us and set our hearts and our wills on living the Jesus way above all else. In Jesus’ name. Amen.