Jesus said, “Every
good tree bears edible fruit, whereas a rotten tree bears bad fruit.”
—
Matthew 7:17 (USC)
The heart of Jesus’ gospel is without doubt the doing of the things of
the Kingdom with a heart for those very things.
When we take life
and faith, as a unison, and we trust God, we find our good Lord leading us in
the direction of good ‘trees’ who are reliable teachers and exemplars of
salubrious fruit. But when we insist on withholding something precious from the
realm of God, we are more likely to be seduced by the rotten ‘tree’ who may
have the words, but the fruit is at the very least suspect.
We tend to choose
the teachers that reflect our own heart’s state.
If we are a little
dodgy on the inside — meaning, we haven’t truly surrendered all at the point of
salvation — we may more likely end up with dodgy influences influencing us
around our hobby horses.
Those with a residue
of ‘issues’ tend most to have hobby horses with which they can present their
overblown rightness — in sum, their pride — to their world they think must
salivate on their very inspiration. How defiled is their worldview?
But if we are honest
before God we will cling less to controversial themes. And, in that, we would
embrace, more, the wonder of life and faith — a gargantuan prospect much bigger
than we could ever comprehend.
A good heart
attracts to itself good trees. A good heart lands in fertile land.
A heart still
struggling with its own demons is more susceptible to error.
If we hope to be
wise, we will be patient in waiting upon the fruit of our teachers who teach
us. We will wait upon the models we observe who fashion our perceptions. We
will observe with an eye for the quality of
the fruit that impels them; that which acts on us; that which grows us and atrophies
our sickness.
The best thing for
any of us is to bury ourselves in a seminary of truth.
The seed of truth
planted in wisdom will germinate and grow. And given faithful tending, and the
provision of the nutrients of health in right amount with right timing, such a
seed will become a good tree, bearing sound and reliable (delicious) fruit.
***
Wise persons will
see wise input act on their lives. They will see their lives void of such
inherent sagacity — they have a need
of such wisdom.
***
Good fruit after bad,
The Lord will make us glad,
When alone we seek his good,
He will show us how
we should.
***
QUESTIONS in REVIEW:
1. How does this fit with you: is
there a link in seeking good with finding good?
2. Have you been hurt by the impact
of bad fruit from a rotten tree? How will you reconcile the occurrence? What is
needed in finding a good tree with which to be nourished?
© 2015 S. J. Wickham.
Note: USC version is Under the Southern Cross, The New Testament in Australian English
(2014). This translation was painstakingly developed by Dr Richard Moore, a NT
Greek scholar, over nearly thirty years.
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