2nd Kings 8-10
SILENCE IS GOLDEN. DUCT TAPE IS SILVER.
I've seen all kinds of tee-shirts that read "Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver." It's a pretty funny thing to think about sometimes, like you can simply silence someone by covering their mouth. But I'll bet that if they really wanted to say something, they'd find a way to express it, through actions or motions.
For instance, let's say I wanted to warn you that there is a wild cheetah running after you! But wait-- there's duct tape over my mouth, so I can't tell you. I wouldn't know what to say anyways, I could say "look out," or "ahh!" or "there's a cheetah running after you!" or even the creative combination of "AHHH! There's a cheetah running after you! Look out!"
The fact of the matter is, if I really cared about you (which I do,) I would do anything to tell you the message. I'd point behind you, or pound on the table to get your attention. I wouldn't waste my time to try and explain anything, because it might be too late, and the cheetah will... do bad things to you.
Everyone knows that actions speak louder than words.
So, let's take today's reading for example. If you haven't already, please read now at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. Only three short chapters, 2nd Kings 8, 9, and 10.
So anyway, the man of God, Elisha encountered this servant for a king. The king asked his servant to go and ask Elisha whether or not the king was going to recover from his sickness. So, here comes this servant guy, asking Elisha to ask God to look into the future and see if the king would recover.
In this vision, Elisha saw that the servant was going to turn against God and takeover the land for himself! The servant didn't know this yet-- but Elisha did. Elisha knew that the servant was going to be able to murder the king. Duh duh duhhhh. (That's my interpretation of scary music.)
But instead of keeping it to himself, he blabbered to the servant that HE (meaning the servant) would one day be king, because he would one day murder the king. I don't really know why Elisha revealed this to the servant, but he better of had a good reason, because the servant went home and killed the king, becoming the king of Aram.
The fact of the matter is... whatever God says WILL COME TRUE. And most times, we aren't like Elisha. We can't see into the future! We don't know what will happen, which is why we trust in God, because God knows all the answers.
So, instead of talking about what WE think is right, or what we think will happen, we should just use our actions to show what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Act in the moment instead of trying to predict the future.
It's hard to get the message of Christ across to people through words, (I know, because I'm not doing a very promising job at it... bare with me here.)
Just like if I wanted to tell you if a cheetah was chasing after you-- don't you think I should just zip it up and SHOW YOU?
That's why we should leave our actions to speak for us instead of words. It's hard to talk about Jesus, and although it's encouraged, if you're not comfortable with spreading the gospel why don't we lead with our actions?
If you don't know what to say, and you don't know what will happen, don't spill out what you THINK is true. Keep your mouth shut and teach others what it means to follow our savior with our motions. Live for Jesus, and show people what it can mean for them.
Got it? Hope so. Peace out.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN. DUCT TAPE IS SILVER.
I've seen all kinds of tee-shirts that read "Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver." It's a pretty funny thing to think about sometimes, like you can simply silence someone by covering their mouth. But I'll bet that if they really wanted to say something, they'd find a way to express it, through actions or motions.
For instance, let's say I wanted to warn you that there is a wild cheetah running after you! But wait-- there's duct tape over my mouth, so I can't tell you. I wouldn't know what to say anyways, I could say "look out," or "ahh!" or "there's a cheetah running after you!" or even the creative combination of "AHHH! There's a cheetah running after you! Look out!"
The fact of the matter is, if I really cared about you (which I do,) I would do anything to tell you the message. I'd point behind you, or pound on the table to get your attention. I wouldn't waste my time to try and explain anything, because it might be too late, and the cheetah will... do bad things to you.
Everyone knows that actions speak louder than words.
So, let's take today's reading for example. If you haven't already, please read now at http://www.bible.com/ or with the BIBLE READER to the left of this post. Only three short chapters, 2nd Kings 8, 9, and 10.
So anyway, the man of God, Elisha encountered this servant for a king. The king asked his servant to go and ask Elisha whether or not the king was going to recover from his sickness. So, here comes this servant guy, asking Elisha to ask God to look into the future and see if the king would recover.
In this vision, Elisha saw that the servant was going to turn against God and takeover the land for himself! The servant didn't know this yet-- but Elisha did. Elisha knew that the servant was going to be able to murder the king. Duh duh duhhhh. (That's my interpretation of scary music.)
But instead of keeping it to himself, he blabbered to the servant that HE (meaning the servant) would one day be king, because he would one day murder the king. I don't really know why Elisha revealed this to the servant, but he better of had a good reason, because the servant went home and killed the king, becoming the king of Aram.
The fact of the matter is... whatever God says WILL COME TRUE. And most times, we aren't like Elisha. We can't see into the future! We don't know what will happen, which is why we trust in God, because God knows all the answers.
So, instead of talking about what WE think is right, or what we think will happen, we should just use our actions to show what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Act in the moment instead of trying to predict the future.
It's hard to get the message of Christ across to people through words, (I know, because I'm not doing a very promising job at it... bare with me here.)
Just like if I wanted to tell you if a cheetah was chasing after you-- don't you think I should just zip it up and SHOW YOU?
That's why we should leave our actions to speak for us instead of words. It's hard to talk about Jesus, and although it's encouraged, if you're not comfortable with spreading the gospel why don't we lead with our actions?
If you don't know what to say, and you don't know what will happen, don't spill out what you THINK is true. Keep your mouth shut and teach others what it means to follow our savior with our motions. Live for Jesus, and show people what it can mean for them.
Got it? Hope so. Peace out.
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