My Heart Overflows

Sometimes I can hear a verse a thousand times before it really strikes a chord in me. A few days ago, I was listening to a sermon by Pastor David Blount (of Church on the Rock in St. Peters, Missouri) while driving home from a visit to my parents' house. In the context of his sermon he quoted Luke 6, verse 45: "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." The rest of his sermon was lost on me while I contemplated this verse. The thought that my words reflect what is truly in my heart concerned me... I began to think about what had come out of my mouth over the course of the prior week.

I had spoken to my kids in anger, I had spoken to them in love. I'd spoken to my wife the same way (sometimes in anger, sometimes in love). I reviewed what I'd said to the people I work with: did I crack any coarse jokes, or speak negatively of anybody? Did I speak positively of the direction I felt my store was headed?

I do a lot of statistical analysis in my job, and I realize that the only way to truly judge a trend is over time. So, I now wonder how the people I work with on a daily basis perceive the words I have spoken over the past few weeks. From the overflow of my heart, my mouth speaks... Am I a "Positive Percy," or a "Negative Nell?" Am I confident and do I thus inspire confidence, or do I question each decision and thus inspire indecision?

I looked further into this scripture when I got home. It, or something close to it, actually appears a couple times in the New Testament:

“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thorn bushes or grapes on bramble bushes. A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say." Luke 6:43-45

“You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced." Matt 7:16-20

“A tree is identified by its fruit. Make a tree good, and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad, and its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.” Matt 12:33-37

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary breaks down Jesus' statement in Luke chapter six like this:
"...what the mouth commonly speaks, generally agrees with what is most in the heart."

Amazing. The words that I speak and the actions I take are the "fruit" by which I am judged by those around me. There is never a question that I will bear fruit--there hasn't been a question of that since mankind was commanded to bear fruit in Genesis chapter 1. The question becomes, "What kind of fruit will I bear?" The next question that logically follows is, "How can I effect the type of fruit that I bear?" That is relatively simple. David knew the answer: "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (Psalms 119:11)

If my mouth speaks from the overflow of my heart, then it is very important that I fill my heart with the right stuffing! I've got to feed my heart God's Word. I've got to read it, meditate on it and then speak it out loud. I've got to invite His Word to live inside of me. The more my mind dwells on God's Word, the more His Word will come out of me.

God, my prayer is that you help me fill my heart with your Word. The ultimate expression of your Word is your son, Jesus Christ. Help me to hide not just your written Word, but also your living Word in my heart! Fill me to over-flowing. Then, help others see my fruit, and recognize it as "good."