My Daily Pause

To bear good fruit, the whole tree has to be sound and well fed.

What do you think about?

If you turned off all of your video screens, sat in a chair and looked out a window, what would be the first thing to pop in your mind?

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he – Proverbs 23:7a KJV

If I thought I could get away with it, I would write every day about the content of our thoughts. I would use Philippians 4:8 as the main verse and we would all have it memorized because we would have studied it so much.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. – Philippians 4:8 KJV

Paul knew the importance of the content of our thoughts, and he knew we had to practice good thoughts in order to produce good deeds.

Think on These Things

Jesus spent a lot of time with this idea as well. From his teachings we know that we sin as soon as we consider an unlawful act – actually carrying out the action is not required!

Jesus further taught us to be careful about what is in our heart. He wants us to train our hearts to contain only the good things. He gave us his reasoning in Luke 6:43-45. Go ahead and read that for yourself, but in bullet pointed form he is saying:

• Good tree = Good fruit
• Bad Tree = Bad fruit
• A tree of one kind cannot produce another kind’s fruit

Therefore: A person’s actions, his speech, his attitude – everything he is – results from what is inside. Everything that is inside was developed from what he put in there.

Carefully Choose the Inputs

We have no lack of information. We can feed our minds from so many sources now. This isn’t a bad thing, we are becoming more productive and efficient from all of the great new technology.

By the same token, just like a cultivated field can be overrun with weeds and trees in a very short time from neglect, so will our thoughts and attention be refocused by poorly chosen entertainment and information.

Question: What are some ways we can immediately improve the content of our heart?

They shall be know by their fruit

The world (and many that claim to be Christians) will use Matthew 7:1 as a way to avoid being told they are living wrong. To make that verse an instruction against judging good and evil causes a conflict with nearly everything else Jesus taught.

Take for instance Matthew 12:33-37. Jesus gives us a benchmark on how to tell the difference between good and evil. We can use a person’s actions and their speech to determine what kind of people they are because:

• We can easily know the kind of tree by the fruit hanging on it.
• Good speech comes from good people
• Good things come from good treasure

In this passage, Jesus tells us we simply cannot be expected to consider sinful people good.

To prove my point, I challenge the reader to a little mental exercise. What goodness is demonstrated by a few of these “harmless” activities?

• Gambling (The lottery, gas station slots, boy’s night poker games)
• Social Drinking
• Showing cleavage (Or dressing immodestly in other ways)
• Crude language

Through Jesus’ point we can understand our lifestyle is a very accurate indicator of what is inside our heart. It will definitely be used in the final judgment!

Jesus gives us a two point lesson in the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6-9).

Just like the farmer expects his trees to bear fruit and will remove them if they don’t, God expects his servants to be saving souls.

And like the farmer, He is patient and willing to allow enough time for us to blossom and be productive.

But … and this is a big but … Like the farmer, there is a definite time limit before he will give up and cut down the fruitless.