A L M A C I A S

A TREE IS KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT

I sometimes wonder how it would be if I could do what the Lord was able to do during His time on earth. I am making reference to His ability to read a person's heart. The Lord was able to know what people were thinking in their hearts and He also knew the motives behind their actions. What if we were able to have this same ability? What would we find out from all of those with whom we deal on a daily basis? Would we find out good things, or would we find out bad things? There is a way in which a person reveals what is in his heart. The words which he speaks will give a very good idea of what is in that person's heart.

In Matthew 12:33-37, we read of an incident in which the Lord taught a lesson in regard to the words we speak. This incident had to do with what Pharisees' accusation that the Lord had cast out a demon from a man by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. We read in Matthew 12:25ff that the Lord, knowing their thoughts, said unto them that if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself and his kingdom cannot stand. In this context, the Lord compared these Pharisees to trees and said unto them that a tree is known by its fruit. The Pharisees had shown their fruit by the words they had spoken of the Lord. They had lied about how the Lord had cast out the demon from this man. They had said evil things of the Lord because that was what was in their hearts.

In Matthew 12:24, the Lord specifically asked the Pharisees how they, being evil, could speak good things, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. As these Pharisees revealed the condition of their hearts by the words they spoke, so do we. The kinds of words we hear different people speak can give us a clue as to whether they are kind, mean, encouraging, or discouraging to others. In this world it seems that we have three groups of people ­ those who speak with one another, those who speak about themselves, and those who seem to always be speaking about others. Where do we find ourselves? When we speak, what do we say about others and to others? Let us always remember what the Lord said here in respect to the words that we speak ­ some day some of us will be justified by them and some of us will be condemned by them.