Have you ever been around certain people and all they talk about is making money, business prospects and hopes to be successful? Or for some it is styles and fashions; clothes and wardrobes issues. Others seem to mostly talk about people, picking at this and that, finding fault with just about everything. For some, their predictable theme is their home – draperies and blinds, colors, floorings and fabrics, etc. There are even some who are always ready for a good chin-wag on politics; they are up on everything that is political.
King David said:
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14
As a believer, I’m responsible for the words I speak either audibly or in writing. If the Lord zeroed in to my conversation today (and He IS tuned in 24/7) what conclusions would He make based on what I speak most frequently about and most passionately? ‘What’ a person speaks about most is what they think most about. That’s why King David made the connection between his words and the meditation of his heart. Someone who talks a lot about politics also spends a lot of time thinking, reading and meditating on politics.
The Lord is concerned about what we meditate on – what we keep rolling over in our minds. Is it pleasing and acceptable to the Lord? How high would the meditations of my heart score on the Christ-centered scale? Am I saturating my mind with the Word of God or with business magazines? Am I always on the lookout for spiritual books or do I gravitate towards magazines that feature the hottest movie stars, fashions or the latest on outdoor life and hunting? What kind of sites do I visit on the Internet? If the Lord analyzed the history of sites visited this past month, what would the spiritual to secular or recreational ratio be?
What I welcome into my mind through eye-gate and ear-gate is what my heart likes to meditate on. The more I allow it in, the more deeply entrenched my thought patterns will be along these lines. In Malachi 3:16 there was a small group of people who, despite the darkness all around them, feared the Lord and thought upon HIS name and spake often one to another. They meditated on the Name of the Lord and it was reflected in what they spoke to each other about.
The language I use with my friends, the words I utter in anger, my talk on-line – however my words come out in whatever setting – are all significant in that they help to reveal the real me.
I am responsible to the Lord for the words I pass on to others. Sappy words, zingers, flaming darts, misleading words, dirty talk, innuendoes, words of encouragement, dishonest words, informed words, loaded words, etc. You name it – I am fully responsible for all the words.
Here is the Amplified Version of Ephesians 4:29:
but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others,
as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.
“Lord help me this day to cultivate a mind that is more occupied with Christ. Help me to meditate on my Saviour and Lord. As I read Your Word, I want it to saturate and cleanse my thought life so that the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth will be acceptable today in Thy sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.”