Day 291 - Out of the Overflow of the Heart the Mouth Speaks

Daily Reading:  Matthew 12-15

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.  12:8

Footnote:  When Jesus said he was Lord of the Sabbath, he claimed to be greater than the law and above the law.  To the Pharisees, this was heresy.  They did not realize that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had created the Sabbath.  The Creator is always greater than the creation; thus Jesus had the authority to overrule their traditions and regulation.

The Pharisees plotted Jesus' death because they were outraged.  Jesus had overruled their authority and had exposed their evil attitudes in front of the entire crowd in the synagogue.  Jesus had showed that the Pharisees were more loyal to their religious system than to God. 

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?  For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.  But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.  12:34-36

Footnote:  Jesus reminds us that what we say reveals what is in our hearts.  What kinds of words come from your mouth?  That is an indication of what your heart is really like.  You can't solve your heart problem, however, just by cleaning up your speech.  You must allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with new attitudes and motives; then your speech will be cleansed at its source.

But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  13:23

Footnote:  The four types of soil represent different responses to God's message.  People respond differently because they are in different states of readiness.  Some are hardened, others are shallow, others are contaminated by distracting worries, and some are receptive.  How has God's Word taken root in your life?  What kind of soil are you?

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All footnotes taken from the Life Application Study Bible, NIV