James 3:4
Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
DAILY READING – Matthew 21:28-46; Numbers 19-20; Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:14
A cruise ship is like a floating city, it is about 3 football field long, weighs about 137,308 gross tons, and can carry up to 5020 passengers and crew. Yet as big as it is it is controlled by a small wheel less than 12 inches in diameter, even smaller than a car’s steering wheel.
It’s amazing to see how small things can control or direct huge things. How tiny electronic chips can control cars and planes. Even the body as big as it is controlled by a brain which is only three-pound in weight.
In James 3:3–12, it tells how a small rudder steers a ship, a bit in a horse’s mouth directs it, and a spark sets a forest on fire. He writes how our tongues can praise God or curse people. The tongue can express great good or cause great harm. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
However the problem is not with the tongue but with the source, which is the heart it is out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. What is in your heart is what will overflow and out flow through the mouth. So if you can control what is in your heart you can also be able to control what comes out of your mouth. When the Word of God dominates your heart, The Word also will dominate your mouth and your tongue.
James 3:9-12 says ‘Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.’
Our tongues are ordained by God as an instrument of blessing. And the evident power of the tongue to bless can be seen in the Jewish tradition of the Shabbat. Every week as the sun sets on Friday evening the Jewish holiday of Shabbat begins, to end when the sun sets on Saturday. And on Friday nights the father or mother lays hands on their children’s heads and recites special blessings upon them.
The result of this tradition of blessing is that today Jews rank among the best and the highest in every field of endeavor in the world. Though they are only 0.2 percent of the world’s population, they win an astonishing 22 percent of Nobel Prizes, more than any other ethnicity in the world. They also account for 53 percent of the recipients of the Pulitzer prize for general nonfiction. And Jews form 85% of people in the world with an IQ over 170.
Proverbs 18:21 teaches us, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Words of blessings or curses will always produce fruits.
The words of blessing Jewish parents have been speaking over their children through the centuries is producing the good fruits the Jewish generation is seeing today.
Words are seeds, once spoken, it is only a matter of time before they bear fruits. And whatsoever a man sows that shall he reap. So be careful the words you speak over your life or those around you. Be careful to sow right seeds that will bear right fruits tomorrow. And if parents can adopt this Jewish tradition of blessing their children rather than berating them at every opportunity, we will indeed have a better generation of youths, doing exploits in the world.
No matter, the temptation do not give in to negative speaking. And if perhaps you have made negative utterances in the past be quick to repent and pray for the abortion of their negative harvests. Let your tongue steer your destiny along the line of God’s will. Speak only that which is in agreement with the word of God.
PRAYER: Lord, please help me to speak right ,to bless with my mouth and allow my words to be a blessing to those around me. Let the continual flow of your praise come from my mouth at all times.
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Your heart needs to be filled with The Word of God to the point of overflow. – WORDBITE 222
[ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK REJOICE]