Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00 — 3.7MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More
Do you like avocados? My wife and I buy them each week. Sometimes it is difficult to pick out a good one. It may look big and have no blemishes, but when we cut it open, it is filled with brown and soft areas. So, we’ve learned to look at different signs to determine a good avocado — such as color, shape, skin texture, firmness and the stem.
I’m sure you also know how to pick out good fruits and vegetables. You’ve learned to look for certain traits or signs. It not only applies to the produce, but the plant or tree bearing the produce. A good source produces good fruit. Jesus understood this. He applied this principle to recognizing false prophets. In Matthew 7:17 he said, “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”(NIV)
Our actions, whether good or evil, are produced by what is within us. I think this is why the Holy Spirit works to produce goodness within us – so we can do the good things God has prepared for us to do, as Ephesians 2:10 says. Also, as people see our good actions, they will know our moral center is not like some mushy avocado! They will see that Jesus is the source of the moral excellence of our characters and of the good deeds we perform!
Please provide feedback and suggestions at: https://www.sparkingfaith.com/feedback/
Bumper music “Landing Place” performed by Mark July, used under license from Shutterstock.