The Overflow of Trash
For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:43-45 NKJV.
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness (Trash – NLT). – Proverbs 15:14 NKJV.
Picture in your mind a river of white winding through hundreds of yards of the city of Jdeideh, a suburb of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. At first glance, it is almost beautiful until you realize that the white is the result of thousands, maybe even millions of white bags filled with trash. The closer you come to the river of trash, the more the smell becomes almost unbearable. You wonder how can people live with this river of stinking trash flowing by their homes? The trash river came about when the main city landfill was closed down in July 2015. One man said, “This used to be such a beautiful place, but look at it now. We can’t even walk by it.”
The truth is that the trash is affecting the health of the people by flushing toxins into the water system, and with warmer weather airborne toxins will become problematic. There could be a resulting rise in cancer rates. People are angry, even rioting at times. The government is trying to find a way of disposing of the trash, but have not yet succeeded. (The Guardian; CNN)
In Luke 6 Jesus speaks of trees bearing good and bad fruit. He then speaks of hearts that overflow with good or evil. Matthew Henry says that the tree represents the heart. Jesus is indicating that to have good fruit on the tree of our heart, and to have an overflow of good treasure flowing from our lives; there must be good treasure, good fruit stored up in our hearts.
Proverbs 15:14 speaks of fools who feed on trash, who store up trash in their lives. This brings to mind the ungodly of Psalm 1:4 who are “like the chaff which the wind drives away.” The Bible is clear about how to avoid being an unfruitful tree, on how to avoid having an overflow of evil coming from your life, to avoid being like the chaff that the wind blows away. Psalm 1:1-3 tells us what to do: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”