Saturday Reading: James 3:9-10
Key Verse: James 3:10
10 Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Devotion:
If you work in a kitchen of any sort you very quickly get to learn that things should not get mixed up because of the risk of germs crossing between foods, surfaces and just about anything else. Kitchen workers get to learn that certain things get used for certain foods and should not be used for others; raw chicken should never be handled by the same utensils as other foods – none of us would like to go down with a case of food poisoning just because we were not careful in the kitchen!
Now if we take that sort of philosophy back to our own lives we would be in for a bit of a shock. Our mouths are used for some of the most noble things like beautiful singing and also for some of the worst deeds that we can imagine – gossip and lies! How can we justify using that same mouth for the best and the worst? How can we hope that during those beautiful moments that our mouths will not spring into one of those lies or other profanities?
Scary when you imagine it in that light – but sobering as well. Our mouths are the major source of our communication with everyone; and that means with God as well! How can we justify using the same mouth for some of those bad things that we have said as well as to lifting up praise to our most Holy and Just God?
I guess the answer is that we should not go there in the first place; we should not be using our mouths for anything other than the good and just things that God initially intended it for! But we live in a sinful world and we live in a world where we are surrounded by evil and corruption – that is why we need all the advice we can get from God’s Word!
Points to Ponder:
How is your speech?
Would God approve with everything that comes from your mouth?