40 Days of Words | Day 10
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of Words
Day 10| WHERE OUR WORDS COME FROM | Matthew 12:34-35
40 Days of Words
Day 10| WHERE OUR WORDS COME FROM | Matthew 12:34-35
WHERE OUR WORDS COME FROM
Matthew 12:34-35
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” (NASB)
Do you like detective shows? Shows where there is a puzzle of sorts to figure out… a “whodunnit” type? Then you watch the detective investigate the clues to solve the case.
Well, I’m going to help you become a “detective” of sorts today with this verse.
The context is this: Jesus had just done a miracle and the Jewish leaders – the Pharisees – were upset. They didn’t give a lick about the man who had been healed by Jesus of being demon-possessed, blind, and unable to speak. They were trying to find some evil reason to discredit Jesus, even if they had to make up that reason.
Jesus – having the advantage of being God – saw right through them and scolded them for speaking against the Holy Spirit. And then – especially for His followers who were there (and for us today) – gave this fantastic insight: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
When I was learning computer programming in college, one maxim was this: GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. If we programmed poorly, we would get poor results.
Just as when we eat an abundance of the wrong, non-nutritious food, it can make us sick… so it is when we fill our minds with things that are wrong, bad, evil, and so on. We do that by what we read, what we hear, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the conversations we have, and on and on.
That’s what the Pharisees did, which is why all they could speak about the MIRACLE that Jesus had performed, the relief he gave that man, were accusations, anger, and evil.
Prayer: LORD, help me to be thoughtful about what I take into my “heart” – my mind, my spirit, and my soul. I desire to speak only “good treasure,” which will bless others. Amen.
Matthew 12:34-35
“Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” (NASB)
Do you like detective shows? Shows where there is a puzzle of sorts to figure out… a “whodunnit” type? Then you watch the detective investigate the clues to solve the case.
Well, I’m going to help you become a “detective” of sorts today with this verse.
The context is this: Jesus had just done a miracle and the Jewish leaders – the Pharisees – were upset. They didn’t give a lick about the man who had been healed by Jesus of being demon-possessed, blind, and unable to speak. They were trying to find some evil reason to discredit Jesus, even if they had to make up that reason.
Jesus – having the advantage of being God – saw right through them and scolded them for speaking against the Holy Spirit. And then – especially for His followers who were there (and for us today) – gave this fantastic insight: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
When I was learning computer programming in college, one maxim was this: GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. If we programmed poorly, we would get poor results.
Just as when we eat an abundance of the wrong, non-nutritious food, it can make us sick… so it is when we fill our minds with things that are wrong, bad, evil, and so on. We do that by what we read, what we hear, the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the conversations we have, and on and on.
That’s what the Pharisees did, which is why all they could speak about the MIRACLE that Jesus had performed, the relief he gave that man, were accusations, anger, and evil.
Prayer: LORD, help me to be thoughtful about what I take into my “heart” – my mind, my spirit, and my soul. I desire to speak only “good treasure,” which will bless others. Amen.