We have a wonderful group of people that come out each and every Wednesday night at the Church where I serve to hear from the Lord Jesus. We spent almost a full year and a half going through the book of John, verse by verse. Some would say we went word by word. Ha Ha… As we approached the end of the Book of John, I begin to ask what book of the Bible would they like to study next. The book of James came up time and time again. I had to admit, in my years of Bible college and Seminary, the book of James was never a class I took, nor was I very interested in the study of it. Give me the hard stuff, Daniel, Revelation, Hermeneutics, Homiletics… But James? It’s only five chapters! What could be in there? Well, don’t go digging around in that little book unless you want your life changed. By far, this has become my favorite book of the Bible. In the last two months, I have been RENOVATED… I said one night that either God was going to use this book to kill me or completely renovate my heart. I have been so convicted and have spent much time in prayer asking God to forgive my filthy rags. Let me share just one verse that stonewalled me along this journey.
James 3:6 – “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.”
Out tongues can destroy so much. They are a fire and contain a WORLD of iniquity. That’s a lot of sin in that little member of our body. That small instrument that we should use to bless and encourage, we tend to use to destroy and condemn, which in return defiles our whole body. The iniquity that stems from that little tongue is set on fire by hell and comes directly from the “old serpent”, that old devil, our very adversary himself. Read Chapter 3…
Thats all I am going to say about that. Lord have mercy on us and give us strength to control our tongue. With that little member, we use it to destroy and condemn others, while also trying to use it to bless You. These things ought not to be. Since we lack wisdom on how to handle this, James gives us good instructions on what to do. Read also James 1:5
Till next time, allow the Lord to wash out your mouth with the Word of God.
Gary