100 Days on Jesus’ Sermon Mount (Day 88)

Jesus said, “So then, you will recognize them by the fruit they bear.”

— Matthew 7:20 (USC)

TRUSTWORTHINESS is something we can safely attribute the reliable and diligent ones who stand the test of sustaining faithfulness over time. These people are real people. There’s no bias or waywardness about them. They are diligently reliable over their life span. And, yet, there are some who appear to warrant such virtuous designation, then they fall from grace and betray the confidences people had in them (falls of which we are all so easily capable of).

But, overall, there are those who finish the good fight of faith well. And that’s our goal. There is no goal nor purpose for life other than being bearers of good fruit every day of our lives.

Now we could focus on those who bear fruit that has no nutritional sustenance at all. But we won’t, unless that is to say, those who operate under a guise of goodness who aren’t good are already passing away.

It is up to us to journey with God in all sincerity so that we are compelled to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly all the days of our life.

Justice, mercy, and humility are grand and holy portents that are the water and sunshine our tree of life needs to remain healthy and provide good fruit in season.

If we add these three to the armoury of our character, we are certain to act justly, to love mercy, and to forever walk humbly with our Lord to the extension of love.

God knows that we need to be good trees bearing good fruit in our works. We need it for our own sense of life contentment and fulfilment.

And God will lead us if we give him the chance. Our Lord wants us to get off the throne of our hearts, so he can get in there, facilitate some open heart surgery — as only the Spirit knows how — and come to remain ever on our hearts from that moment onwards.

When God is on the throne of our hearts he sees to it that we are furnished with good work to do so we may be bearers of much fruit.

***

Trust what you see, especially over time,

Those trustworthy you’ll see never commit a crime,

The bearer of good works is known by their fruit,

You can rest assured they’ll continue to follow suit.

***

QUESTIONS in REVIEW:

1.     Who do you trust and how often is your trust burned? Could God be telling you to recognise people for the fruit they bear?

2.     What about you? Are you someone who is outgoing in your love, bold in acting justly, sincere in your loving mercy, and ready and willing to walk humbly?

© 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.