Matthew 3: Empowering Children And Teens Today!

     Matthew introduces us to bearing fruit worthy of repentance in Chapter 3.  John the Baptist is in the wilderness preaching a message of repentance, preparing the way for Jesus.  People came to him as he preached and baptized with water, telling of the One to come. 

   

  He spoke about bearing fruit worthy of repentance and compared those with bad fruit to a tree to be cut down at the roots.  What was he talking about?  He was speaking about our heart condition and the signs in our lives of repentance (the fruit).  Repentance is simply aligning ourselves with the Word of God.  When we do this, our lives will reflect the inner change (the fruit) that comes with aligning ourselves with the Word of God.

     So what does bearing fruit worthy of repentance mean?  I met a woman who shared this with me many years ago:  we will call her Carol here.

     Very early in her marriage, Carol became frustrated with a lack of money for her to run the home and the family.  Her husband worked, and she took in odd jobs to try to help ends meet each month, but it was not enough.  One day, a friend shared the Gospel Message with her, and Carol soon became a new Christian.   

     Several months later this Carol’s friend, Amy, came by her old, run down house to visit.   Amy noticed the entrance to the home was dark with dirt and handprints from the playful children as Carol answered the door and invited her Amy inside.  Noticing the inside was as dirty and disorganized as the entrance, her Amy sat at the kitchen table while the Carol ran a wet rag across it to clear a place for them to talk. 

     They discussed about the Carol’s situation, and Amy recommended she start reading the bible, but only what she could manage each day and still take care of her children and husband.  They agreed to talk again the next time Amy was in the neighborhood. 

     Carol enjoyed the fellowship, but did not see how reading might change her situation.  She did want to continue to meeting with Amy the next time she was nearby, so she did read a few verses from the book of John every day, as Amy had recommended.

     Amy came Carol to visit a few months later.  Walking up to the house, Amy noticed the dirt and handprints missing at the entrance.  She knocked, and again was invited into the home.  Sitting down at the kitchen table, she noticed a beautiful little jar with wildflowers picked from the nearby field sat in the center.  Dishes were clean and put away.  The home’s aroma was clean, and it’s appearance orderly.

As they fellowship at the kitchen table, Carol shared how as she read from the Book of John, her perspective of her life changed, and she saw hope in the love of Christ that filled her from the pages of the Bible.  The changes on the inside of her, within her spirit, soon reflected outwardly in her home and family.  These outward changes are like the fruit worthy of repentance. 

Changes on the outside reflecting the inside are what John the Baptist was referring to when he warned the Sadducees and the Pharisees who attended his baptism to bear fruits worthy of repentance.  He was referring to evidence of their heart condition, rather than just acts and works to make it look like they were in repentance. 

We will be like a tree with roots by a stream (a healthy tree); and we will not fear, but continue to have green leaves and bear fruit, even when circumstances around us are troublesome (Jeremiah 17:7,8).  John the Baptist also compares us to a tree. 

     By getting our heart condition aligned with God’s Word, the changes on the inside reflect on the outside as “fruits worthy unto repentance.”  You are off to a great start by daily reading the Bible (Psalm 1).  The bible is the living, inspired Word of God, capable of more than you can ever image.