The following are musings about how what you hold deep inside you will come out and show who you really are:
We have all seen the commercials. You know the ones, about that drink product that implies people can do great athletic things if they drink it. The commercials that are in black and white but when the person sweats their sweat drops are the color of the drink. After each commercial implies that if you drink the drink then you can do just about anything athletic it ends with the question, “Is it in you?”
I recently heard two people discussing the collapse of the two towers of the World Trade Center that happened on 9/11. They mentioned how, right before their collapse, people were actually jumping out of windows that were ten stories or more high. People were so full of fear they jumped to their deaths. One person lamented (as we are apt to do when we see a great tragedy), “Where was God when this happened?” The other calmly stated, “God was where each of those people wanted Him to be.”
Do you remember the fable about the scorpion and the turtle. The scorpion needs to get to the other side of the pond and asks the turtle for a ride on his back. The turtle figures that the scorpion will not sting him otherwise they would both drown so he agrees. Halfway across the pond the scorpion stings the turtle. As the turtle starts to go under he cries out to the scorpion, “Why did you sing me seeing that now we will both die?” The scorpion replied, “It’s in my nature.”
Luke 6:45 states, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (KJV Bible) (See also Matthew 12:35 and Mark 7:20-22.) I have heard preachers share this verse when they wanted people to understand why people can be cruel and hurtful with their words.
Romans 1:18-32 shows what men are like when they have evil treasure in their hearts: ungodly and unrighteous who in their wickedness repress and even hinder the truth, making images of mortal men, birds, beasts and reptiles instead of worshiping the One who created these things, fulfilling their own vile sexual desires, covetous, greed, full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit, treachery, and cruelness. Verse 32 states that they not only practice them but they “applaud others who practice them” (AMP Bible)
I guess I always associated Luke 6:45 with the teachings about the evil in people’s hearts, but I now notice that first sentence, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good…”
Galatians 5:22-23 shows what men are like when they have good treasure in their hearts: they are full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
All this makes me think about what is important to me. What is it that fills my heart? What is it that motivates me? How will I respond when faced with adversity or tragedy? “…for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” I want to be rid of my old nature (the old man) so I do not act out of it like the scorpion did (Eph. 4:17-32). I want to be so full of the perfect love of God so that I do not act impulsively from fear like those who jumped from the towers but that I wait on Him for deliverance from my terrors (1 John 4:18). I want to be so full of God Himself that His glory shines in contrast to this drab black and white world of sin like the brightly colored drops of that drink product stand out in those commercials (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 5:22-23). I strive for Him to be in me.
Is He in You?
