Last week was my sweet Terri’s birthday and among the many things I got for her was a can of smoked almonds, she loves em! The immediate danger she saw with this particular gift was that both our son Joe and I myself are quite fond of them as well. So to quell the apparent temptation she quickly commandeered a sharpie pen and scrolled onto the lid these words…. Terri’s Nuts! I chuckled but it was Joe who noticed the obvious warning on said almond lid and said in a rather nonchalant way, Terri’s nuts, you can say that again! Well I’m just glad that he said it and not me! By the way he should be out of the hospital by the end of the week! Aw, I’m just kiddin. But words are something to behold. I have always loved catchy phrases, the humorous pun or two and the always popular and clever play on words. For example, “A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption”. Words are funny things aren’t they? Ever hear this one? Tommy invited one of his friends to attend church with him one Sunday. His friend had never been in a church service before, and was incredibly curious about all that was going on. So, all through the service, he kept pointing and asking, "What does that mean? Tommy spent the entire service explaining everything to him. The preacher at Tommy's church had a reputation for being long-winded. When he began his sermon, he carefully removed his wristwatch and placed it on the pulpit beside his notes. Tommy's friend noticed this, so he pointed and asked, "What does that mean?" Tommy shook his head sadly and declared, "It doesn't mean a thing…" And all the folks from Plymouth Heights say Amen! One more here, bear with me you need a laugh today! A young man entered a monastery hoping to become a monk. The Order which he wished to join had a strict rule of silence. The abbot told him on his first day that he would be on probation for fifteen years. During that time he would be allowed to speak only once every five years and then only for one minute with the abbot himself. The young man accepted and was registered as a novitiate. Eventually the first five years passed and he was summoned to the abbot's study. How are you going on, my son?" asked the abbot. "Oh, all right, thank you, Reverend Father," replied the young man. "Have you any complaints?" asked the abbot. "Well, Sir, yes, there is one thing. The porridge is always cold at breakfast. It would be so much nicer if it were hot." "Right," said the abbot, "I will see to that. Time is now up.” The young man left and did not speak again to anyone for five years. Then he had to go again to the abbot's study. “How are you going on?" asked the abbot. "Oh, all right, thank you, Sir, I think," answered the novitiate. "Have you any complaints?" asked the abbot. "Well, Sir, there is just one thing, the bed is very hard and I find it difficult to sleep. Could I please have a little more straw in my mattress?" "Right," said the abbot, "I will see to that. Time is now up." And the young man had to leave. Another five years passed and the young man went to see the abbot for the last time. Reverend Father," he said, "my fifteen years' probation is at an end. Are you going to accept me as a full member of your Order?" "Dear me, no," replied the abbot. "You have done nothing but complain since you got here!"
Words are powerful things. Listen to the writer to the Hebrews, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Wow, did you hear that? There is a unique power that the word of God possesses. Everyone who has honestly encountered it knows exactly what I mean. It speaks to your very heart and soul. Words are also eternal things. Listen to the Psalmist, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”
Lastly, Words are serious things. There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one." In closing, here are good words to live by, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Of all the things words are, I want mine to be right in the sight of God! How about you?
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