SWIFT TO HEAR BUT SLOW TO SPEAK

Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear; slow to speak, slow to anger. James 1:19

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 20-25

In the head, we have the eyes, the ears, and the mouth. There is a reason why God put the ears at the sides and the eyes in the front. There is a reason why the eyes are above the mouth. He arranged them that way for a reason. Imagine if one had eyes at the sides, although one will be able to see opportunities lying around him, side distractions will also be inevitable. Let us imagine for a second that we have our eyes at the back, although we will be able to see the mistakes of our past and become wiser, we will never forget our past. To make progress in life, we need to forget our past and move ahead. To help man, God put his eyes in the front so he can focus more on his future not his past. He also put a neck under his head so he can take a quick glance at his past occasionally. If one spends too much time looking back, the neck begins to hurt signifying it is high time one looked forward again. We are to learn from nature and focus more on our future not our past mistakes. To see, we only need one eye but God has given us two for a reason. With one eye, one has many blind spots but with two eyes, the blind spots become less.

Let us imagine for a moment that we have our ears at the back. Although we will able to hear what people are saying behind our back, we will also live an unhappy life. People who speak behind one’s back always have negative things to say and if one listens to too much of negative things, it might affect one’s heart. Negative reports leads to sickness. Proverbs 15:30 says the light of the eyes rejoiceth the hearth and a god report maketh the bones fat. Someone once said, God envisaged that some brothers and sisters would wear glasses so He gave us ears at the side so the glasses can sit on the ear. I do not know how true this is but it makes logical sense. God gave us two ears so we can detect the direction of sound. Our ears transmit sound waves to the brain, and having an ear on each side of the head makes it easier for us to determine where the sound is coming from. Having two ears allows you to understand where someone is if he is talking to you in a social setting, where construction is, or who is honking his horn. God gave us one mouth and a tongue because of the potential in the tongue. Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. With the tongue, one can start a war and with the tongue, one can put an end to war. James 1:19 says therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear; slow to speak, and slow to anger. The reason why God gave us two ears and one mouth is so that we can do more hearing than speaking. For us to be able to speak on a matter once, we must have heard from at least two sides. One of the ways to identify a mature Christian is that they listen more and talk less. The more one talks, the higher the chances of one offending God. Proverbs 10:19 saysin the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

PRAYER POINT: Father, please help me to tame my mouth

Bro Samuel – Reaching the world for Jesus.