Speaking from the heart

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45
This is an often-quoted verse, but let’s try to set aside its familiarity and understand what it is saying to us today. It’s one extension of the law of sowing and reaping. If you sow apple seeds, you will get an apple tree – not a peach tree, or radishes, but an apple tree. If you don’t want an apple tree, don’t sow apple seeds! So the first law of sowing and reaping is that you always reap the same kind of thing that you sow. The second law is that you always reap much more than you sow. The third, is that the reaping always comes, and it always comes later.
In one sense, our heart is like a computer – if you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. But if you put quality things into your heart – meditating on the word of God, spending time with Him – you will get life and fruitfulness out.
How do we know what is in someone’s heart – including our own? Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). But Jesus gives us a clue here: to know what is in someone’s heart, we just need to listen to what is coming out of their mouth. What they say is a reflection of what is in their heart. What are you saying today?