Called or not called

May 29, 2007

Bible Reading: “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” Proverbs 13:3

Bonus Readings: Mark 7:14-23; Psalm 141:3

The Latin theologian Erasmus once said, “Called or not called, God is present.” This is a simple, but profound statement of God’s omnipresence and omniscience, all rolled into one package. Ask nearly anyone you see and they will make a similar statement about the nature of God - even if they don’t live a Christian life. Interestingly enough, though, even though they will admit to you they think God is present, it does not seem to affect how they talk. Ya gotta wonder why.

We’ve all been there, though. We read our Bibles, pray every day, and even invite others to share our faith. Every so often, though, a noxious word flies from our mouths like a sudden burp. But if someone from church hears, we are embarrassed. We might say something like, “I can’t cuss in front of you.” Amazing. For fear of offending a human being, we apologize. The fact that we have a problem that keeps us from full fellowship with God is a secondary concern. A quick recall of Erasmus’ wisdom is a huge wake-up call.

Of course, visualizing God’s presence in our minds bestows comfort to our hearts, and restrains sinful tendencies in our behavior. It isn’t a matter of projecting an imaginary image of God and pretending He’s there. It’s a matter of recognizing the presence of our holy God who really is there. Frequently reminding ourselves of the Lord’s abiding presence will eventually, if applied consistently, establish more Godly speech as a habit. But there’s a deeper and more abiding solution that extends far beyond the speech itself. We can attack the problem at its root.

Jesus Himself takes it a step further, when he teaches us in St. Luke that from the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak. This calls the question of what we allow to prevail inside us. The answer is simple; what occupies our minds most. Philippians 4:8 gives us a good laundry list of things to focus our minds on, and the “how” then, is simple - read and listen to God’s Word as often as possible, allowing it to become abundant in us. Then, we will be in better position to place what Scripture describes as a “guard on our lips.” If we can take this simple action, God can take control of what comes out of us. Then Erasmus’ warning will be unneeded in our lives. God is changing us elementally.

To bring this into sharp focus, then, consider the case of the in-flight cockpit recorders that document the last minutes of aircrew lives before a crash - and some of the language there. Now imagine these as our last words before standing in God’s undiluted presence. Is this really what we want? More importantly, is it really God’s best for us?

For your prayer time: What have I done to change the abundance of what is in my heart?

Grace and peace,
Chip+

Posted by Father Chip | Filed Under Devotionals