READ
Matthew 12
In verses 33-37 we see a warning again about having
fruit that comes from either a good heart or a bad heart. Either way there will
be fruit! However, the kind of fruit will depend on what’s
inside our hearts. Verse 36, though, should stop us in our tracks. This warns
us that we will give account for every careless word we say. Yikes! Some of us
will have a lot to give account for! This passage, although it is a warning
about being careful about what we say, is actually a greater warning about
making sure that the treasure of our hearts is full of God’s righteousness and
not evil. If our hearts have been redeemed and made righteous by God’s work in
our lives, the words coming out of our mouths (our hearts) will be evidence of
that transformation. The challenge here is not about not saying certain words,
or working really hard at having perfect speech, but about having a heart so
pure before God that holy speech is a natural outcome.
Verse 42 talks about the Queen of the South. It is
talking about the Queen of Sheba we read about in 1 Kings 10:1-13. That passage
tells us that the Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s great wisdom and
traveled to visit him so she could hear his wisdom for herself. When she
arrived, she found that the stories she’d heard didn’t even come close to
describing the vastness of his wisdom. She gave him lots and lots of valuable
gifts in exchange for the wisdom he offered. She heard about Solomon’s wisdom
and made a fantastic decision to make the long journey and pay outrageous
amounts of money to acquire that wisdom and experience it. If the Queen of
Sheba thought it was worth all that to get Solomon’s wisdom, how much more
valuable is it for us to have access to Jesus, Creator of the Universe and King
of Kings?
Verses 43-45 has a very practical application for us today. This passage
talks about healing and deliverance. When we are set free from bondage
spiritually, it’s like our ‘house’ or our heart has been made clean, swept out
and set in order. However, an empty ‘house’ or heart is an invitation for that
bondage to come back. There is no vacuum in the spiritual realm. Either our
hearts are mastered by God or by satan.
We can’t just be “set free”.
We must fill our hearts, minds and lives with the things of God so that the
habits and bondages of the past don’t come back. If we stop listening to
degrading music with sinful content, we will eventually go back to that music –
or worse – if we don’t replace it. If we begin listening to music that helps us
focus on the things of God instead, we will have ‘filled the house’ with good
things. That is just one example of a way we can set our house in order and
then fill it with the things of the Lord to protect ourselves from being caught
in bondage again.
JOURNALING
AND PRAYER
1.
Ask the Lord to speak to you about the purity of your speech. Ask Him to
show you how this is related to the purity of your heart. Ask Him what you need
to do next in order to grow your heart into the treasure of righteousness that
would produce righteous fruit.
2.
How quickly do you access the wisdom and value of Jesus? Ask God to give
you a word, thought or picture about how He would like to see you treat the
glory & wisdom of Jesus.
3.
Ask Jesus to reveal anything in your life that you need to be set free
from. If He reveals anything, either pray for that freedom on your own, or make
an appointment for personal ministry. Ask Him to give you a strategic plan to
replace the old, bondage-making things, activities and people with Holy Spirit-filled
things, activities and relationships. Ask for at least one thing you can to do
to replace that bondage with something healthy.
