Children all over the world breathed sighs of relief as they opened and found sweets and toys in their stockings in stead of lumps of coal. Grace was showered, instead of wrath. For years, Christmas lore has told of the infamous lumps of coal bestowed upon those lads and lasses who were naughty and not nice. I, however, am longing for a whole sackful of coal this year.
There are a number of passages in Scripture that, regardless of who you are, if we all practiced the principles found therein, the world would be a different place. I think if the church alone wholeheartedly pursued excellence in this area, we would see issues of depression, poor "self-esteem" and mental health virtually disappear.
Although I read this passage days ago, I have been drawn back to it several times this week by the Spirit. A familiar passage in Isaiah 6 would rank in the number of aforementioned vital truths. The prophet is given a rare glance into the Holy presence of the Lord Almighty and he is shaken to the core. His response to God's Holiness is recorded in verse 5, "'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'"
His confession has to do with, of all things, his mouth. He is cut to the chase as to his speech is found lacking. I have heard him referred to as the potty mouth prophet or the cussing prophet. I am no Hebrew scholar, but based on this passage I do not see evidence that he had issues with expletives. Nevertheless, there is issue to be dealt with here. Along with other sins, we will all give an account for the inappropriate words that have slipped past our lips, and it should cause us to shutter.
Our verbal uncleanness comes in a variety of shapes and sizes that definitely bears a trip to the returns counter. Unfortunately, once it shoots past our teeth, it is gone, and often the damage done is lifelong. One of the of the stupidest tidbits of information passed off as truth to our kids is, "sticks and stones may break your, but name swill never hurt you!" What a lie! If that were true, why is it that hurtful things said to us decades ago still resonate in our minds? But still, we speak things that simply should not proceed out of the mouths of saints of God.
Far too many folks utter profanity. But verbal transgressions are not limited to those individuals who cannot articulate themselves without a random pattern of wingdings (@#$%@#!) The Word has much to say about the issue of the tongue. Click on these few passages and see which ones hit home with you: Psalm 34:13, Proverbs 25:18, Proverbs 29:20, James 1:26, and probably the most all inclusive Ephesians 4:29. These are just a few, and they have all tripped me up at one time or another. But I think the one that is the most scathing comes from the Savior Himself, "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart." (Luke 6:43-45)
Do you want a test of how deep your faith really is? Listen to that which comes out of your mouth. It bears witness against us. Is it cutting remarks? profanity? gossip? dirty jokes? The list can go on and I assure you there is a scriptural rebuke for each. But it basically comes down to this, if what we say does not build someone up, then we shouldn't say it. (or think it for that matter!) Now I am not talking about speaking the truth in love that corrects a sinful behavior. But even with that exhortation, the motivation must be in love, not condemnation.
I wonder if a whole sackful of burning coals would cleanse my lips of the terrible, cutting shameful things that I have uttered. Only by filling ourselves with the truth of God's Word can we begin to reverse the heart disease (cf. Romans 12:2).
So, what do I want for Christmas this year? A good start would be a sack full of burning coals.
1 comment:
That's pretty powerful stuff. If i'm not mistaken, Ephesians 5 also says you shouldn't even have anything to do with people who have a 'potty mouth'. Half the reason why i don't speak to half of my friends back at home, because every other word starts with "F" or something just as bad. It's extremely tempting to use words like that...especially when i'm around people like that. I feel like in order to be in their 'circle' i need to speak the same way. But I've cleaned myself up quite a bit in the last couple years. And i'm hoping to stay that way :D. See you later dude!
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