Devotionals
Matthew 7:16
(excerpt from Morning Meditations by Martin Wiles)
Matthew 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (NIV)
“I’m sorry. We don’t have iced (sweet) tea or grits.” Or “Are you guys from the states?”
I heard the first when traveling to New England and the second while visiting Canada. Funny how speech and cultural norms identify us. I can’t imagine not saying “ya’ll,” but for those who never have, it’s almost impossible to pronounce. Nor can I fathom the absence of grits and sweet tea.
So who’s right? It’s not important. Those things just characterize who we are-or aren’t. For some, it’s all we’ve ever known. Others have learned the norms from living around aborigines. We tend to cultivate the customs of our surroundings.
Jesus said the same when teaching how to identify one of his followers. Fruit was the key. Just as bad trees don’t produce good fruit, so good trees won’t produce bad fruit. And a fruit tree will produce fruit. If it doesn’t, it is worthless to the one who planted it expecting fruit.
I was planted in the South by my parents, and I can rattle off a string of terms that would seem like a foreign tongue to those unfamiliar with southern slang. Any time I travel out of the South it is very evident to others where I’m from. After more than fifty years of talking this way, I doubt I can change. Southern living produces southern fruit just like New England and Canada living produces New England and Canadian fruit.
Life with Jesus does the same. When it doesn’t there is a root problem, and root problems are serious. The best way to produce the southern way of life is by living in the South. And the same is true for the believer’s fruits. Spending quality time with God every day and hanging around with other believers is a sure way to ensure you act and talk God like. Then when you travel out of your normal spiritual surroundings, someone will be sure to remind you by saying, “You’re not from around here are you?”
Prayer: Lord, give us strength to accurately represent who we are. www.morningliteministry.com
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