We all remember glimpses of our past, but, especially as we grow older we might not remember every detail.  I remember a friend of my mother who had a favorite expression that she would always use.  If someone would tell her a fascinating story, or a piece of "juicy" gossip about another, she would always use this expression.  "Lord, shut my mouth!," she would exclaim.  I don't remember her name or even much about her, yet I will never forget the saying, "Lord, shut my mouth!" I am not sure why the Lord brought this to my remembrance today...well, on second thought maybe I do know why. 

I hear the statement made often by "religious" people that they never sin.  They may not sin.  Or maybe they sin when they boast of no sin in their life.  I am not trying to start any theological discussion, but I find myself like the Apostle Paul.  He proclaimed that "...those things that I would do, I do not.  And those things that I would not do are the very things that I do."  I sin.  There are things that I should do that at times I don't, and there are those things that I shouldn't do that sometimes I do.  But, is that not what Jesus died for...that the shed blood of Calvary would cover our sins for all time?  Is He not our Advocate Who sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us?  But, yes, I sinned.  Just the other day I was having a conversation with another preacher and the name of another brother came up in our talk.  I had heard of some trouble this brother was having and repeated what I had heard.  What I had HEARD!  Not what I knew, but what I had HEARD.  God set angel guards at the entrance of Eden when he expelled Adam and Eve.  I pray that He would set those guards over my mouth...not to keep something from coming in but, rather, to keep hurtful words and gossip from coming out. "Lord, shut MY mouth!"  Psalms 141:3 says, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth.  Keep watch over the door of my lips."  And, in Proverbs 13: 3, we read:  "He who guards his mouth preserves his life.  But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction."  There may be other applications to these Scriptures, but they speak to my heart today.  LORD, SHUT MY MOUTH! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for bringing this to my thoughts today.  When I engage in another conversation and the temptation arises...LORD, shut my mouth!  This may not speak to your heart at all.  You may not ever face the temptation to repeat something you have "heard".  You may never speak wrong of someone else.  But... Lord, shut my mouth.   Selah.

• Topic: Devotionals

• Printer Friendly Page
• Send to a Friend