Morning Devotional
August 4, 2003
“Caught in the Act”  
by Don Emmitte

"A tree is identified by its fruit. Make a tree good, and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad, and its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:33-37 NLT).

In June 1991, the following squib appeared in San Francisco columnist Herb Caen's column: 

I heard a news report on Chicago radio that a guy in California got a speeding ticket that was sent to him via the mail. It was one of those new "camera" set-ups that got him, where a camera is positioned along the highway, sans officer. The camera took the picture of his speeding car and tag number. A letter was generated by a computer and sent to him with the photograph of his car speeding and the date and time of the offense. The letter went on to state that he had to send in a fine of $40.00. The story went that the guy was so mad that he sent back the letter with a photograph of two twenty dollar bills. A week later he got a letter back from the police. He opened up the letter and inside was a photograph of a pair of handcuffs! 

It's clear both the violator and police chief were engaging in a bit of horsing around. Your run-of-the-mill speeder does not normally contact a high-profile columnist with the news that he's about to pay a fine, after all. However, the humor in it reminded me of a very sobering truth found in our reading today: There is a judgment due for all of our sins.  

It is reported that just before the death of actor W. C. Fields, a friend visited Fields' hospital room and was surprised to find him thumbing through a Bible. Asked what he was doing with a Bible, Fields replied, "I'm looking for loopholes." The Bible teaches that there will be no “loopholes.” There is however a defense. That will be our relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior. 

In the context of our reading this morning, the Pharisees were unwilling to believe that Jesus could be the messiah promised in the Old Testament. He didn’t fit their interpretation of the prophecies. The “fruit of their tree” was not good. Their words sounded good, but their actions gave them away. From that there would be no escape. Mailing in a photograph could not save them! What are you depending on for your salvation? Only Jesus will do!