So what kind of fruit do you like?  Personally, I’m a fan of summer ripened tomatoes.  A hamburger from the grill is good enough on its own, but when adorned with a summer ripened red, juicy tomato… say no more.  There’s something about fruit that we can understand.  If you’ve ever bitten into a seemingly perfect apple only to find a mushy brown spot or worse… half a worm, then you obviously know what bad fruit tastes like.  I’ll never forget standing under a crab apple tree at my Grandparents house and being challenged to pick and eat a handful of the tiny, green little fuit.  I figured it was no contest… I love apples!  Needless to say, the sour little balls of fruit drew my mouth up into a pucker and ended up sending me on a couple of quick trips to the bathroom.

We can relate to fruit because we can see it.  We know the appeal of a fresh, ripe melon and we respect the stench of a decaying, rotten tomato.  I guess that’s why Jesus Christ so readily used fruit as an example for us to understand his teaching.  In fact, the word “fruit” appears more than 150 times in the Bible and is used by almost every writer to convey a message of good and bad.  The analogy is too perfect for our lives.

The other night I was reading through some of the conversations that Jesus Christ was having among his disciples and stopped in Matthew chapter 12 where He was being confronted by accusers that He was spawned from evil for the miracles He performed.  After healing the sick to make them well, the accusation is hurled at Him and he responds this way:

³³“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. ³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” – Jesus Christ as recorded in the Holy Bible (Matthew 12:33-37)

These words stung me when I read them.  I am guilty of being in the brood of vipers on occasion… striking out at others.  I’m not celebrating that.  It is our challenge to cut out the evil in our lives so we become better fruit.  The worst we can do is take care of the skin, but allow the inside to decay and rot.

So we walk through our days spewing all sorts of venom out of our mouths.  We cut people down, we make jokes at the expense of others, we hurl insults to people who cut us off in traffic, and we rip people apart behind their backs with hearsay.  It’s just a few harmful little words… right?  If you don’t think there is a problem with the words you use… go read the passage above one more time.

Listen to me when I tell you this.  What comes out of your mouth is a direct link to the condition of your soul.  We should challenge one another to clean it up.

Father God, we pray that you reveal those places in our lives that condemn us.  Help us to listen to our words so we can hear our own witness.  Surround us with honest brothers who are willing to let us know when our fruit begins to stink.  Shut our mouths at the point of striking others with our mouths.  Give us strength and wisdom to live Bold for you.  Through Christ we petition you.  Amen.

Peace,

Greg Arnold
Acts 4:31
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