Matthew 12:33-37
(A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit)
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Tag: The Fruit Proves the Root
Apple seeds don’t produce pear trees. A seed of wheat does not produce watermelons. These are common sense and very practical truths. What ever is in the well comes up in the bucket. You don’t send a bucket down a well that contains water and end up pouring champagne out of the bucket when it comes back up out of the well. This truth is a must for us to grasp. You don’t have to watch someone long to find out what is in the “well.” It comes up in their “bucket.” In the above teaching of our Savior we see that the “bucket” is their speech. The tongue reveals the heart:
Proverbs 10:31
The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
Our tongue tells us what is in the heart. Our actions and/or behaviors happen based upon our cognitive decisions, but our cognitive decisions come from the heart of our soul. What is in the well comes up in the bucket. If we want a different product in the bucket, we have to change what is in the heart and mind. This is not a complicated thought process. What we believe to be true will determine what decisions we should make. What decisions we made determines our behaviors. We would like to get away from that syllogistic pattern, but that won’t happen. This is what Jesus is teaching: What’s in the well comes up in the bucket. If you want different content in the bucket you have to change what is in the well. The well can only be changed by cleansing it with the Word of God:
Ephesians 5:26
that he (Jesus) might sanctify her (the Church), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Jesus is sanctifying the Church with the cleansing power of the God’s Word. As the believer “obeys” the Word of God the heart and mind are cleansing. As the heart and mind are cleansing something different comes up in the bucket (choices and behaviors).
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