Dear Friends,
Chuck Swindoll begins a message on the tongue with the following
instructions. "There is a little gray stone in a little English
countryside church yard. It is bleak and unpretentious. I am told that if
you want to read the sign that appears on the tombstone you have to bow down
and look very closely. The epitaph reads as follows:
“Beneath the stone, a lump of clay, Lies Arabella Young
Who on the 21st of May began to hold her tongue.”
There are probably a lot of people we have met like Arabella
Young. They are people that have never learned how to hold or control their
tongue. Although one of the smallest members of our body, the tongue is
one of the deadliest weapons we possess.
A large family sat around the table for breakfast one morning. As
the custom was, the father returned thanks, blessing God for the food.
Immediately afterward, however, as was his bad habit, he began to grumble
about hard times, the poor quality of the food he was eating, the way it was
cooked, and much more.
His little daughter interrupted him with, “Father, do you suppose
God heard what you said a little while ago?”
“Certainly,” replied the father with a competent air of an
instructor.
“And did he hear what you said about the bacon and the coffee?”
“Of course,” the father replied but not as confidently as before.
And then the little girl asked him again, “Then, father, which
prayer did God believe?”
The apostle James writes, "People can take all kinds of
animals and birds and reptiles and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is
an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord
and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been
made in the image of God. And so, blessing and cursing come pouring out of the
same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right. Does a
spring of water bubble out with both freshwater and bitter water? Can you pick
olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine? No, and you can't draw fresh
water from a salty pool.” James 3:7-12 (Living Bible).
The tongue is neither a friend not a foe. It is simply a messenger
from the heart. So, when James is talking about the tongue, we should think of
the word heart, for the tongue only delivers what is hidden in the heart.
If the heart is sick, then so will the tongue be also. A heart that is yielded
to Jesus Christ will be revealed in a tongue that is used to bless and
encourage.
By examining the tongue, a skilled physician can tell a lot about
the state of our health, but by listening to the tongue, anyone can discern the
state of our spiritual health. Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.
Now say “ah-h-h-h-h.” Your tongue looks healthy, but what has it revealed about
your heart this past week?
The psalmist offers good advice when he prays, Set a guard over my
mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:30). That’s a
good prayer for all of us to pray.”
Have a wonderful week.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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