I would consider my first ‘real’ job to be as a sales associate at the old Sears store in downtown Santa Rosa, California. I had mowed lawns since my junior high school days and worked for a print shop for a couple of hours a day after school throughout high school, but Sears is where I really entered into the reality of a regular, decent paying job, with steady hours, opportunity for advancement and the ability to become part of a team working together to achieve corporate goals and serve the public at the same time!
I worked there from the summer of 1971 and well into 1977
when I quit to manage the apartments we lived in, pursue my photography
business aspirations and to follow the recent ministry call as the on-staff
Youth Minister at our church. While
there, I spent my entire time at Sears working in the sales departments located
in the basement of that store. Mostly
part-time in Sporting Goods while attending Junior College and later as a
full-time associate in Hardware… but I knew the entire floor pretty well and
could and did help out in the other departments like Paint and Electrical. The only area I never worked in was the
Catalog desk… although I did spend many a quiet evening talking to the gals who
worked behind the counter! (Don’t
worry… Piper knew them all and they saw her around enough to know that I was
well spoken for!)
My point in all this is that over the years, I got to know
many of the regular customers who considered Sears to be their go-to
store. Most of the customers were
friendly and approachable… except for one older gentleman that most of the
associates tended to avoid! It turned
out that the man was a retired Deputy Sheriff and always made it a point to let
that fact be known.
He had a flamboyant way of flipping open his wallet so that
his big, shiny gold badge always tended to get in your face while he fished for
his credit card and swung back his jacket in such a way so that the hand gun he
carried on his belt could be clearly seen.
He had an attitude about him that tended to leave me with great concern
for the way he had treated people while on the job and made me worry about how
easily it might be for him to draw his revolver now that he seemed to live in
the hyped-up stories of his past.
I hadn’t thought about that man for many, many years… until
this morning when I was reading about the power behind the words that you and I
speak on a daily basis. Psalm 40:3 in
The Passion Translation tells us,
“A new song for a new day
rises up in me every time I think about how God breaks through for me! Ecstatic
praise pours out of my MOUTH until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many
will see His miracles; they’ll stand in awe of God and fall in love with Him!”
While pursuing a Hebrew and Greek word study on various
words within this verse, I was a little stunned when I looked up the original language’s
meanings behind the word “MOUTH.”
Both the Hebrew and Greek translations agree that the usage of “MOUTH”
is defined as our “speech or language” and “specifically as the edge
of a WEAPON or the edge of a sword.” (Strong’s and Thayer’s)
That definition immediately reminded me of a very familiar
scripture where the Apostle Paul specifically taught about the WEAPONS
that we as Christians are to use in our daily lives. 2 Corinthians 10:4 clearly informs us that,
“The weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;”
So… while that older gentleman
from the early days of my adult work history, carried a WEAPON at
his side and tended to make all of us around him anxious by the way he spoke
and paraded his gun and badge in public… we Christians… according to
Paul… carry around just as powerful a weapon… one that does “not pertain
to the flesh, or is under the control of the animal appetites nor governed by
mere human nature, instead of by the Spirit of God” (Strongs)! The powerful WEAPONS of our
daily warfare are the very WORDS that we SPEAK each and every day!
As I began to study these verses within the context of both
King David’s and the Apostle Paul’s understanding concerning the importance of
the words we speak… I immediately… among other thoughts on the subject… had
to sit back at my desk and wonder if the words that I speak in
this current season of my life (as I have come a long way and learned
a lot more in my Christian walk since those days in the early to mid-1970’s)
ever cause people that I am interacting with… to feel uncomfortable or even
anxious to be around me!
On that same subject matter, Jesus Himself declared
that, “The words you speak reveal the true condition of your heart…” (Matthew 12:37 – The Remedy), while Peter distinctly taught
that “Whoever speaks must speak God's words.”
(I Peter 4:11 God’s Word ©)
Are the words that I speak in the course of my daily life God’s
words or words that agree with the truth of His Word as
found within the pages of my Bible?
How About You… and
the WORDS that you speak when conversing with others in public,
at home or at church… are they God’s Words… or words that line
up with His truth as written in your Bible?
If God considers MY WORDS as the WEAPONS
of my or HIS warfare in my walk on this earth… then
I’d best make sure that every word I speak hits its target and that I don’t
waste valuable ammunition by talking without thought of the harm that my words
may inflict on someone else!
What do YOU think about that?
There is a lot more to these verses that I’ll be sharing
over the next few weeks… but in the meantime… STAY ALERT to what
comes out of your mouth! I like the
saying to engage our minds and, in this case… our spirits… in connection
with HIS Spirit… BEFORE engaging our mouths!
Have a terrific weekend!
Our winter weather storm that blew through over the last few days has
left us with the beautiful sights of bright blue skies and (a little)
warmer weather that is quite welcome!
The snow is quickly melting and the icy morning and evening streets are
quickly fading away! PTL!
So… Stay ALERT to your Godly filled WORDS
and expect God’s BEST when you do!
