Outward Appearances

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.” (Words of Jesus)

I’ve come to the conclusion that a good tree planted in bad soil will not give you the results that you expected, that is unless you know what to feed the tree.  The Spirit of God has been giving me lessons in 1 Samuel 16:7, But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him.  For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 

The world you and I live in is totally built on outward appearances, and if you do not believe so, take inventory not of your neighbors appearance, not of his kids, not of his stuff, not what he says or does, but look in your mirror, and this is what you will see; you have fallen into the pattern of this world.  Do you remember when Bill Clinton’s chief campaign adviser, James Carville, insisted that money was the only issue, and came up with the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid” I’ve always confessed that ignorance is a big problem in my life.  So let me be so bold to state; “It is the heart, stupid,” the character, the integrity, not your looks, not your skill set, not your athletic ability, or your wealth.  And yet most of us, who go by the name of Christian, are wowed not by the heart but the outward appearance.

I confessed to the Lord this morning, I have a heart problem, I judge myself and others on the outward appearance, and yet often my judgment is tied to my values, my desires, and my words are often many and careless.  It comes back to not your performance, not what someone else says about you, but what is in your heart.  Now we are not talking about a hunk of muscle that beats 28 million tines in a year, and mine has now gone over the 2.5 billion beats, no we are referring to our intellect, our emotions, our will. 

Jesus made clear what defiles a person and yet the disciples did not understand, so Jesus said; “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)   And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

It comes down to one thing, “Do you believe Jesus tells the truth, and if the answer is in the affirmative, how is your heart?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice