Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from the book of James but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
Over the years I have noticed that everybody in certain parts of this country have to deal with different kinds of Critters. Some places have to deal with snakes and other places have to deal with alligators and crocodiles. Some places have to deal with spiders or even sharks swimming by their beach. Up in Alaska they might have to deal with a bear in their garage going through some garbage. Up here in the northern Minnesota woods our family deals with the onslaught of mosquitoes, a few stray cougars and of course, the snapping turtle. Our property tends to be on lower land which is much wetter than normal. I’ve always warned my children to watch out for these turtles because I have seen them in the back yard. I’ve got nothing against them mind you. They look very different because they have big giant bumps all over there shell which distinguishes them from a normal mud turtle, which is fairly benign, but they can move pretty quickly if they’re provoked and I guarantee you if you get too close to them you could lose a finger.
One day when we were down by the lake I showed a huge one to my kids. Its shell was approximately 2 feet in diameter and its head and mouth looked similar to a bald eagle. The only safe place to grab them is on their tail but you have to watch for the claws on their back feet which are razor sharp and as long as a dog. I took a big stick and showed my children how they will snap it in half with their powerful mouth.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
A snappers mouth is the most dangerous feature on this creature, just like a human.
James 3:1-18 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.
Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
Just like a snapping turtle, somebody’s mouth can be a very dangerous thing. It can wound you or hurt you in very much the same way. The mouth of a snapping turtle is one of the smallest parts of its body but it can really do a lot of damage. It’s an animal, and that is the turtles nature. It’s similar to the human nature which has a desire to be malicious and hurt others with the tongue and in our speech. To truly become a Christian in your heart you need to be capable of controlling your tongue. A snapper turtle has no control. It will bite at whatever is put in front of it. Oh sure in the flesh it’s easy to be malicious and to speak evil of others, it’s easy to lie and falsely accuse people or use your tongue in a way to hurt others and gossip about a neighbor.
The Apostle James teaches us today that perfection is attained by control of your speech. If you can do that, you can control everything else. He teaches that the tongue is a world of iniquity, by which you can really sin and harm other people. Sometimes when I think about people who open up their mouths to speak evil and malicious things about others, I think about a snapping turtle. They snap and they bite at you. They only desire to hurt and to harm you, but the tongue is evil and filled with deadly poison. Instead of using our tongues to hurt other people we should use them as an instrument to praise God. We can use our tongues to pray to God or to sing to him or to edify and build up each other in the church. Instead of using our speech to hurt others, we should use our speech to build others up in our faith. The snapping turtle really doesn’t know any better but as a Christian we have a higher calling, to use your speech to help others, to love them, and to help them grow in the grace of God.
The tongue can become one of a humans most dangerous attributes, being used to inflict harm and hurt the lives of others, just like…..
……The Snapper
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.
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