Open Mouth, Insert Foot! ( Love this one!)

By Lisa Crum


Scripture Of The Day: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” – Psalm 19:14 (NIV)

It's the scene of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17), and Peter, so excited about what he has just seen, blurts out, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah!" (v. 4) Remember? Imagine a 21st Century Peter, scrambling to get one of his biggest faux pas yanked from Youtube!

Well, I'd like to be able to roll my eyes at Peter and say, "Pete, man, I'm embarrassed FOR you, dude!" But whenever I read this passage, my face almost blushes from remembering times when my own mouth has had ample room for both feet...clear up to the knees! There are times when we utter things in haste that are, as Granny used to put it, "like feathers in the wind."

I'm more apt to speak out of turn – or to say things that, even as the words are leaving my mouth, my mind is shouting, "Will you shut up already!" – if I'm nervous, uncomfortable, or trying too hard to make a good impression. We are sometimes so anxious to impress that we make a total train wreck out of our good intentions! There even are some people who I embarrass myself around over and over again! Go figure…



My prayer for today:

 "Lord, help me to rein in my emotions and also my pride – for when I'm too self-conscious, I forget to be more conscious of You. Help me to think before I speak, because I’m Your ambassador in a lost world where a disingenuous, religious spirit has left a bad aftertaste. I can either represent You well – or I can drive people even farther away from knowing how wonderful You are – all by the words I let escape from my lips. You instruct us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. Help the inside of my vessel to be clean and not just the outside, so that when from the abundance of my heart my mouth speaks, my speech doesn't betray me – or You. In Jesus name, amen.

Be Blessed!
 
Dawn