Power of the Tongue

Power and

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 KJV

Context:

Most of the wise sayings in the book of Proverbs are attributed to Solomon who God said that there would be none like Solomon before him and none also shall arise even after him that will be like him. He got his wisdom from God, when he was asked by God to make any request. We see the actual manifestation of this wisdom in all the words he wrote down, but as age crept up on him, he lost sight of what was truly important and started chasing shadows. First lesson: it is not always about how you start but much more how you end. Even when God has promised you the treasures of the whole world, there is a part that I must play to make sure that what is promised finds full expression in and through me. 

It is in that light that today's extract can be fully understood. When I want God to do something for me, what would he expect me to do to ensure that whatever it is he does, it will meet adequate preparation on my own part? There are quite a number of things, but today, we can only look at the contribution of my lips and heart, and how they work together to bring God's purpose to fruition in my life, or to prevent God's purpose from being realised and fulfilled. 

Message and Response:

The tongue is such a small part of our bodies, but it is capable of mighty things. James 3 calls it a little member that makes great boasts. However, it must be noted that the tongue does not exist on its own; whatever flows out of it is a function of the investments I have made into my heart. I do not know how science does it, but there is a source that says that there is a link between poor oral health and an increased risk of heart disease. Think about that for a moment: what happens in and around your mouth can affect your heart. If this is true in the physical health space, think of what it means in the spiritual health space. 

I want my life to produce figs but I have spent all my life storing up thorns. When there is a need to place a demand on the storage, how do I ever imagine that I will get figs? If I have never stored up figs, I cannot withdraw figs from the storehouse of my heart. You get out what you have put in. You can't give what you don't have, or was never yours in the first place. All my life, I am storing up either towards life or towards death. There is no middle ground, or a place of no consequences. I don't get to walk away from the results of my investments. 

Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Even a fool is thought to be wise as long as the mouth is shut. By my daily life, I am working towards one extreme. There is no fence; no middle ground. Check out the verse just before today's extract: A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. For every man alive, there is a vacuum that something must fill. We were born with a desire to impact the world we were placed in, but the world will only give that which it has. If I don't like what it gives me, then I can make my own. I must invest time and resources to make sure that my life produces that which God can be pleased with. 

Lives have been built up and others have been destroyed by the right and wrong use of the tongue. There is a warning at the end of the extract: they that love it will eat its fruit. If I want to eat the fruits of my life with joy, I must take utmost care during the planting season. If I will look forward to what my life will produce, I must take care of the season of planting and preparation. If God were to feed me with the fruit of my life now, would I eat it with joy? Is my life producing fruit that looks like what God can back up? As long as I have life, it is not too late. I can make changes. God's grace never gives up on a man unless that man rejects the grace to the end of his life. May the Lord help me to watch my life's input, so that its output can look like that which glorifies God. His time of favour is here.