April 4th, 2006
The Tongue – Edition #5: Hot Words
Proverbs 16:27-32
A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends. A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good. He who winks with his eye is plotting perversity; he who purses his lips is bent on evil. Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life. Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.
Scorching (adj.):
- Hot and dry enough to burn or parch a surface.
It’s not the most exciting passages in the bible and definitely not the easiest to personalize when you read it. A perverse man stirs up disagreements. A person who talks about other people’s personal lives separates close friends. In fact, they can even squash the possibility of being close with someone. Also, a man acting with great force or emotional intensity leads others down a path this isn’t Godly. A guy who puckers his lips is bent on evil. I recently had a birthday… nowhere near having gray hair, although my son sometimes makes me feel like it is coming soon when he wants his bottle. I also had a friend who had a 50th birthday… and the scripture (actually verse 31) is something that I talked about, but did not speak directly. There is a saying that the good die young… the bible doesn’t say anything of the like. It is a blessing to live a long life. And in some cases, it is very much the same blessing to live a short life. Who out there can determine what time frame of life is best outside of God? And who can say that it is a shame to live a life of only 20 years, 30 years or 60? I think that the time is irrelevant on this earth. What is best is how that life is lived. If I live a life of selfishness, thinking of only my needs and not the needs of others, speaking my mind like that of a scorching fire, separating my friends and family from me and the living God, but live to be 150 years old, then my life was a waste. If my life was filled with kind words of others, thinking of other peoples needs before my own, being a man who controls my temper, leading my neighbor down paths that are good, and die tomorrow, then I would consider my life to be better lived than that of the 150 year old. Rangers are up 7 to 1 right now in the sixth inning… things looking good for the guys in blue. Isn’t there a campaign for everyone to “back the blue”? Anyway, I have been up for much of this day, exhausted from tests and scans and prodding and poking… needles, they are not my friend. IVs are not a friend of mine, except when a doctor used a Novocain spray (which in my mind is the best medical invention EVER!) I think now that I finished this, prayed and such, I will watch the finish of the game and crash out. So… Johnny Out.
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