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We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.

James 3:2

This verse teaches that mastering your tongue is so incredibly difficult that if you were actually able to pull it off, if you were able to never sin by what you say, then you would have the self-control to achieve perfection in every way. You would be able to "keep your whole body in check." Of course, this passage also tells us in verse 8 that no one can completely tame their tongue. So, no one actually does have that level of self-control.

But it does raise an interesting question. Can our speech be used as a general measure of our self-control and spiritual maturity? If someone had to judge your spiritual maturity based solely on what you say, what would they conclude?

Evaluate yourself. Here's a list of "sins of the tongue" that some friends and I came up with. I am sure I missed some, but I never realized there were so many ways to sin just by talking!

• Slander
• Gossip
• Lying
• Arrogant or Self-promoting talk
• Filthy Language
• Coarse Joking
• Perverse Talk
• Abusive Language (i.e. venting of anger or hatred)
• Dishonoring your father or mother
• Taking the Lord's name in vain
• Tempting others to sin
• False Teaching
• Approving of sin

How did you fare? Since no man can tame the tongue completely, I am guessing that like me you see some room for improvement. And maybe this verse gives you a good reason to make a concerted effort to do so. Maybe those of us who really want to grow closer to the Lord and who want to conform more into the image of Christ in all areas of our lives should consider starting here. What better way to begin developing the self-control necessary to "keep our whole bodies in check" than to begin reining in our tongues? Make this your prayer today.

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. (Ps. 141:3)

God's Not Like Me (W.o.W. Rewind)

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:8-9

I'm not very good at forgiveness. I haven't been deeply wronged by many people in my life, but the times I have felt mistreated, I responded pretty poorly. Forgiveness, grace, and redemption are all easier to talk about than they are to live out. Thank goodness God is nothing like me! His ways and thoughts are infinitely higher and better than my ways and thoughts just as He himself is infinitely higher and better than I am.

This applies not just to God's personal holiness and perfection, but also to how He deals with wicked people like me. He not only beckons sinners to come to Him but He does so in incomparably beautiful terms.

"Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. (Isaiah 55:1-3a)

What a God we serve! The thirsty drink, the bankrupt eat, the "good stuff" (i.e. wine and milk) are given away for free, and all are satisfied. He offers compassion and free forgiveness, but what must one do to take advantage of this offer?

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

God freely forgives any who come. No restrictions or requirements are placed on His offer of forgiveness beyond this: you must abandon your way (turn from your sin) and turn toward God. For the person thinking, "Getting God's forgiveness can't be that easy." God says, "I'm not like you. I'm different. My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts."

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you are not like me.

Cleanse Me with Hyssop

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

Hyssop was a type of plant that God’s people used for ceremonial cleansing. It must have grown in leafy or spriggy bunches allowing Israel to use it almost like a paintbrush. This is the plant they used to paint the blood on their doorposts in Egypt when God struck down all the firstborn. But, more to the point, they also used hyssop to sprinkle people with water in purification ceremonies. You can read about this in Numbers 19 or Leviticus 14. But basically if a person had an infectious skin disease or if they had touched a dead body they were declared unclean and cut off from fellowship with the people and from the sanctuary of God. They had to be cleansed before they could return. The cleansing ceremony involved dipping a bunch of hyssop into water mixed with either sacrificial blood or ashes and then sprinkling it on the person.

Now, we read right over “cleanse me with hyssop” and don’t give it a second thought, but this was a powerful image to the Israelite. David is saying, “I feel unclean. I’m unworthy to come before you, God. I’m as polluted as someone who has touched a dead body or who has leprosy. Make me clean again, Lord, so I can enter Your presence!”

Sin has consequences. It threatens your intimacy with God. David understands this. In verse 11 he asks God, “Don’t cast me out of your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” David is thinking about the king of Israel that came before him, King Saul, whose sin resulted in him being rejected as king and losing the Spirit’s anointing. David doesn’t want the same thing to happen to him, but he fears it will because of his sin.

Even for believers, your sin matters! Your spot in heaven may be secure but your intimacy with God must be maintained. Sin separates you from God. It stuffs cotton in your ears and makes it difficult for you to hear His voice. It smears mud on your eyes and makes it hard for you to see His glory. It turns your heart of flesh into a heart of stone so that you are no longer drawn to love the things of God. And it offends God and makes Him want to move away from you.

So again, I say, your sin matters! Some of you are believers who have no intimacy with God. You have no desire to draw near to Him, and when you do He seems distant from you and you can’t figure out why. There are multiple reasons that can happen, but for many of you it’s because you are sinning against God. He has withdrawn His presence from you because you are spitting in His face day after day after day by willingly sinning against Him. You love money and horde possessions instead of giving generously to care for the poor and build His kingdom. That’s why God is far from you! Or you have pushed Jesus off the throne of your heart and are living in sin by putting sex before marriage, and yet somehow you think that it doesn’t matter. Sin matters! Whatever your sin is, understand that you can’t disobey God and expect Him to bless you and draw near to you like it isn’t happening.

For further reading...

• Psalm 51- Read all of this psalm confession psalm to learn more about sin and forgiveness. 

A Memorial to the Lord

“Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord... These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

Joshua 4:5b-7

My son lost his first tooth tonight. We took a video to send to the grandparents. We took a picture to post on social media. The tooth was carefully preserved in a zip lock bag with today's date written in permanent marker on it. And my wife has already discussed with him where this tooth will be stored while it waits for the rest of its companions to follow suit.

This is what people do. It's part of the human condition to want to remember important moments, major accomplishments, and significant commitments that we make. So, we celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries. We hang diplomas on our walls. We keep pictures of ourselves in our early twenties in peak physical condition so we can remember the glory days. And we save baby teeth. We seem to want to memorialize everything. But we don't always do a good job of doing this in our spiritual lives. 

As Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry ground he told them to have a representative from each of the twelve tribes pick up a large stone from the middle of the river. When they were on the other side, Joshua used these stones to build a memorial to serve as a sign of the great miracle God performed by parting the river. Not only would this serve as a reminder for those who were there that day, but it would also give them an opportunity to teach others what God had done. It was a physical witness to future generations of Israelites and to the nations around them of God's great miracle.  

Here we find an example for us to follow. It's important for us to remember and mark the significant spiritual events in our lives. We should celebrate the ways God has provided for us and remind ourselves of God's goodness, so we won't forget to praise Him for what He's done. We also need to tell others of God's faithfulness and especially be sure we pass down to our kids what we learned about God from these experiences.  

So, what has God done in your life? When did He make Himself most real to you? Was it at your salvation? Was it a miracle you witnessed? A physical healing or spiritual delivery? Was it how He provided for you in a time of need? Or how He led you when you needed special guidance or direction?

Whatever it was, prayerfully consider how you might memorialize that event. Put up some physical witness to that event around your house or in your life. This memorial will glorify God and honor Him for what He did, and it will also give you occasion to teach others about what God has done for you.