Thursday, October 15, 2015
Are there certain people, whether well-known or not, you would like to know better? Well, here’s one way: Just pay attention to the words that come out of their mouths, even the things they write. Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” The simple message in Jesus’ words is that, sooner or later, our words will reveal what is really in our hearts and who we really are. When you pay close attention to the words that come out of peoples mouths, things such as kindness, gratitude and joy, or anger, resentment, selfishness, and bitterness, among many other things, will eventually emerge. I was thinking of this topic a few days ago when someone read me the Facebook post written by one of my grandchildren. The way he expressed himself revealed the kind of person he really is. It made me extremely proud and made me think that just maybe, at least in a small way and besides his parents, grandma and grandpa had something to do with it too.
My number one boyhood hero was the great New York Yankee, Mickey Mantle. I remember the many years I would buy the newspaper just to see how he did on the previous day’s game so I could calculate his batting average and home run production on a daily basis. For many years I thought this man could do no wrong and then after he retired, my bubble was burst when I learned of his womanizing, infidelity, and drinking problems during his playing days. Had I been around him on a regular basis and heard his daily conversations, I would have known these things about him before the rest of the world found out. Nevertheless, Mickey Mantle’s life ended on a positive note for it was reported that, right before he died, his friend and Yankee teammate, Bobby Richardson led him to Christ.
What can God’s children do to ensure that the words that proceed from their mouths will not speak badly about them? One way is to think about our responses carefully before we express ourselves with our words, but to me the surest way is to draw as close as we can to Jesus every day. In time we will be a little more like Him and if we are more like Him, the words we speak will be His words. What are your words saying about you?
Memory verse for the week: (Psalm 34:10 KJV) “The young lions do lack , and suffer hunger : but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
