Nov 19 Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 37 James 3 Psalm 129:1-8

James 3:7-8

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

James spends some time here talking about our tongues.

If you think you are perfect and not stumbling… then you only need to look as far as your tongue to see that you are unable to keep your whole body in check.

Our tongue is going to get us into trouble – therefore we need to learn to keep an eye on it.

What we say matters. We need to understand this. The words we speak don’t just have an effect on the person we say them to – they can go way beyond that and effect other people and they can also effect us.

James tells us that the words we use – steers our lives.

James uses 2 examples here – the bit in a horses mouth and the rudder of a ship.

The bit in a horses mouth is not large at all – it seems quite insignificant. But by this one little bit someone can control where that horse is heading.

It is the same with a ship. I like that James doesn’t just say a boat, but a ship. He paints a picture of a large vessel, not a little boat you’d take out on a lake.

To make that ship move it takes a lot – back in those days you needed men on the oars or wind in the sails. Now it takes fuel – and a lot of it.

Making a ship move takes a huge amount of effort – engines, pistons, all of that… I remember when I first watched titanic that I was amazed by how many men were down in the bottom of the ship, throwing coal into the engines for the ship to go full steam ahead.

Moving it takes so much – but steering a ship it just takes a small rudder. You move that rudder and it changes the direction of the whole huge ship.

James gives us 2 examples here of something that seem small, but can steer and effect the whole direction of something. And he tells us our tongues are the same. It may not seem significant, it may not seem like a big deal, but it is.

What you say – has an effect on both you and the people around you.

But as he ends this part he leaves us with a thought.

The reality is – we cannot tame the tongue. No human being can…

That of course means if we want the tongue to be tamed then we need to look to someone who is not a human being.

Try as we might – we won’t get this thing under control. We need God to step in. We need the Holy Spirit to guide our mouths.

We give our very mouths over to Him.

And when we find ourselves battling our tongues – we trust in God – we keep turning to the Holy Spirit.

And for our part – we may not be able to tame our tongues – but we can keep an eye on them.

If there was a wild lion in the room with me, I may not be able to tame it. But I will certainly be keeping an eye on it!

James is right – there is wisdom in watching our mouths.

The tongue will take you paces you don’t want to go if you let it. It contains the power of life and death.

You wouldn’t pick up a gun and just start waving it around and shooting it off randomly. So don’t do that with you mouth.

Words can build and words can destroy. As children of God – it’s our job to build.

We all need to keep a close eye on the tongue.