Friday 1 Jun 2012

Friday Reading: James 3:7-10

Key Verse: James 3:9
9  Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

Devotion:
There are people out there that pick the most exotic animals to be their pets and some do manage to make those animals change their ways so that they are friendly towards humans. Give enough exposure to any animal and it will begin to accept humans as being frequent visitors and certainly as masters. Man has managed to tame birds of prey so that they perform on request. He has managed to tame wild cats and other exotic animals to perform in zoos; and whilst we do hear of cases where one or two of the animals do turn back to their old wild habits we do not hear anything other than wild outbursts coming from all humans. Instead of the one or two exceptions that go wild we have one or two exceptions that turn toward good and righteousness!

We may look at it as having the tables turned but when we look at it from God’s point of view or look at it through millenniums of examples through our bibles we find out that man has always had an unruly tongue! Right from the beginning of time we find out that man has always had a problem with trying to keep his tongue in line or in check. And it is those few words that come out in anger that we see the most damage being done to the people around us. Just like a snake’s venom will inflict a large amount of damage through such a small bite, our mouths inflict untold damage on people’s feelings through one or two words that burst out at inopportune times!

That same mouth that we use to lift up our prayers to God we use to dash down the friends around us. That same tongue that is used to form wonderful words of praise is used to break down friendships and cut people’s spirits to the quick. How soon we do forget that we are actually doing this damage to God’s own people; the very men that He created in His image, we break down and destroy with words. God created men to praise Him and to glorify Him, not to be broken down by other humans or spirits.

God has created our bodies as living temples for the worship of a Glorious Saviour and King. Our mouths are the parts that form the words with which we lift up God’s name in praise. We should not be using that same temple and that same mouth to break down and level God’s creation instead!

Points to Ponder:
How God friendly is your mouth?

How often do you break God’s temple?