Proverbs 12:14 Words and deeds and fruitfulness
A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him. Proverbs 12:14 NASB
This Proverb is the perfect follow up and contrast to the previous two (verses 12-13). What we say and our healthy attitude toward work result in both deep satisfaction and abundance.
The fruit, or yield, of my words are like seeds planted in the hearts of others. They find soil, receptivity, and growing conditions that produce results. Jesus’ parable of the sower comes to mind in that the quality of the land (the preparation of the heart to receive the seed) affects the harvest — whether the seed is choked, or whether it finds good, well-tilled soil, will determine if it produces good things. The focus in this proverb is a well-placed seed. From my heart I pull the good that my Father has given me and see an opportunity to speak or plant it in another. What great delight when it helps — when I speak the right word, at the right moment, to the right person.
My life produces fruitfulness in two different ways: the first being what comes from my heart and me speaking it with my mouth, the second comes from my labor, where I expend my energy. Solomon often contrasts two extremes or opposites, but here he uses succession and intensity— one thing following another with increasing results. The words coming from me can be powerful, but so is the “doing” — the labor or outflow of my work. “The deeds of a man’s hands will return to him.” Another translation says, “paid back to him.” The Hebrew means to return, to pull in again, or come home. The idea of a natural circuit, or cycle that when it comes back to me is complete, as if it was a payment owed to me. And I find this to be a trait that is just like my Father — He has an expectation for increase whenever something is invested or given. When something is sent, it returns. Fruitfulness is in His nature.
Real fruitfulness comes from being connected to the Vine. My closeness to Jesus, abiding in him and his people yields fruit in both my words and deeds. And to put it more plainly: Jesus expects fruitfulness of me. It is impossible to be connected to him without yielding something tangibly good.
I like the progression of this proverb — first I speak, then I do. There is an order in how humans do something. God plants good seed in our heart, we think about it, meditate upon it, allow it to take root, and it grows. That thought or idea finally outgrows me and can no longer remain inside. My experience in life cannot be limited to only reading books or hearing stories. I must touch, taste, feel, and know things for myself. If I read about love, hear about love, understand its importance, desire its impact then as that seed grows in my hear It must be experienced. And before any action, there is something I express whether in word, to a friend, in my journal, in my plans. My heart sets a course before it moves. There is something special and powerful about saying something out loud. Speaking it in prayer, or declaring it to a friend. It’s emboldening. Cementing. From there I act. I must act. Life must be lived. Jesus didn’t teach so that we could simply watch re-runs of season 1 again and again. I am season 2. I must make my own story. I love the book of Acts. But now I must live and experience my own book of Acts. And as with all good seed that I speak and do, it will come back to me. Just like it comes back to Jesus.
But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance. Luke 8:15 NASB