The Overflow
I was reminded of Luke 6:43-45 yesterday while watching SportsCenter (see it has significant spiritual value) – The Message paraphrases it this way, “You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.” As I watched the scuffle that followed the Oregon/Boise St football game Thursday night, I was struck by how quickly things escalated.
Both players acted in ways that they shouldn’t have and what began as a jerk-move (taunting after beating up on a team) quickly led to negative consequences for both players. One man will be remembered for this face:
and another’s college career ended.
I couldn’t help but to consider what flows out of my life in moments when things don’t go according to my choosing. How do I respond when I’m wrong? Do I do all I can to defend my pride or do I admit to being wrong? When people wrong me do I have a turn-my-cheek type of attitude or do I begin thinking of retribution? In moments when my patience is tested, how do I act? My reactions to these and many more situations demonstrate the state of my heart. My heart overflows into my deeds, my life, my moment-by-moment actions. My prayer will continue to be that God would be at work in me and that by the power of his Spirit, my life would be transformed. That the way I live would line up more and more with the way of Jesus. That hope, faith, and love would flow through my life as opposed to anything that moves away from God’s heart.