SCRIP-BITS

Ecclesiastes 10:12     The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.
 
Oh Friends, oh Friends, the Lord certainly put the ole fella through the ringer this morning. I just couldn’t find a Bit to get my head around. And though I knew that I would eventually find or be led to one, I was getting a tad anxious with time running out and me still lost in no-Bit land. (smile) Obviously, I cried out for help, but as I keep reminding us, help didn’t come until the Lord was good and ready; in His own time, not mine. Ah Friends, that just brings up the important point, that even when we are doing good things for God, we still need to wait on Him, because everything in our world moves on His time frame, not ours. It also helps to keep us humble and down to earth, remembering that whatever good deed we’re doing is not about us, but about our God, for too often we tend to get caught up in our importance in the work, rather than God’s. And when I was finally led to a Bit I could handle, I had to laugh, note a respectful laugh, not a derisive one, because it seemed so…simple. Simple is not the proper word, but it’s the best I can do right now since I’m hurrying to write this to get it out on time. There I go again! I’m trying to operate on my schedule, not the Lord’s, and Friends, that only gets us in trouble, which in a way ties in with our Bit, because when we’re not wise and wait on the Lord, we usually end up like the fool, in the mire. Now mih people, words are our greatest and most used tool of communication, and believe me, they can make or break us; as an individual, a family, a nation, or even our entire world. Words are what have led to most of the wars in our world. That means they are very, very important. We’ve got to be rather careful about what we say, and to whom, especially in these foolish times of overdone political correctness. Yes Friends, I consider most of this current political correctness as dumb, unnecessary stuff. Granted, at one stage in our evolution we weren’t very perceptive or considerate of the way certain words and terms affected others, but unfortunately, now we’ve taken it too far; like the proverbial pendulum, we’ve swung from one end right over to the other. Why is it that so often in life we can’t find a happy medium, or mid point, but must always swing from side to side eh? I thought life was supposed to be a continuum; you go along a path, wide or narrow, crooked, or straight, until you find a wise, comfortable spot, then you stop there. But like I’m mistaken, for nowadays we just seem to swing, like Tarzan, from one side of the problem right to the other, then back again, with no happy medium point. Anyway mih people, any way you cut it up, a wise man will do the wise thing, and a fool, the foolish. Like the author of Ecclesiastes says: ‘The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself.’ And we all know that to be gospel mih breddren, because all of us have put our feet in our mouths at one time or another and proven ourselves more foolish than wise. That’s why it’s ever so important to take our time before speaking and choose our words very carefully. As you can see from the very talkative society that we’ve recently evolved into, with all the tweeting and twittering nonsense, people are getting themselves into more trouble with their words than ever before. The technology is worldwide, and so is Big Brother, so we never know who is listening to what we say. Now this is borne out so well by the following verse that I had to include it. ‘Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.’ (Eccl.10:20) Yes Friends, carelessly spoken words have a way of getting back to, or being discovered by those in authority. However, despite all the political correctness or incorrectness my people, a believer’s words should always be gracious, pleasing, agreeable, benevolent and courteous, not condescending, indulgent or sarcastic. And the best example of that is of course our Lord and Saviour Jesus, particularly on that day He taught in His hometown of Nazareth. After He’d read the scripture pertaining to Him, (Luke 4:18-19) the Good Book declares: ‘And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth…’ (Luke 4:22) Yes Friends, wherever our Saviour went, and to whom ever He spoke, His words were always gracious, even when they contained disapproval. And even so should our words be acknowledged, by both believers and unbelievers. It’s not easy, especially with all the anger, confusion, bitterness, resentment and divisions that currently hold our world in a vice-like grip, but nonetheless, as true followers of Christ, we must always endeavour to come across as kind and gracious. But sadly, that’s where so many of us get caught out; we pretend to be what we’re not. And yuh know my brethren that it’s our hearts the Lord looks at and judges, not merely our words. So for many of us, our first priority ought to be to develop a truly kind and gracious heart, then we won’t have to worry as much about what we say. Remember Jesus’ warning: ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ (Mat.15:11) And we’ll end with a little reminder of it all from the wisest of men, Cousin Sol: ‘The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness (perversity).’ (Prov.10:32) Let’s write that in our hearts and souls my Friends in Jesus, it will save us much pain and heartache. Till tomorrow then, when, God willing, we’ll deal with the foolish side of the equation. In the meantime, may we all walk in peace, with many blessings bestowed on us from the Father. Much  LOVE! …our words… though basically wind…can often hurt or do more harm…than physical blows…