Nothing Will Stay Hidden

My daughter told me that she heard the perfect description of me. She said that I am so slow that it takes me 2 hours to watch 60 minutes. She might be on to something.

So, this morning, in Luke 12, I got two whole verses beyond where I was Friday. Jesus said,

For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. (Luke 12:2-3)

When I saw this, I was impressed with how lightly we seem to take the words of Jesus. Jesus says nothing is covered that shall not be revealed.

If I really believe this, will my daily life be different? How many times do I make comments, on the side, only for certain ears? Well those words will be proclaimed from the housetop. If you think politicians and celebrities are scrutinized and exposed by the media and the grocery store magazines, that’s nothing to what awaits each of us.

Jesus also says,

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (Matthew 12:36)

This is not a new idea for me, but it seems I need to be reminded often of the truth that I know. Our words may be a lot more important than we realize. I believe this is true.

Thinking about this I remembered that Jesus said that he didn’t speak on his own but from the father (John 14:10). Those born again of God have God’s Spirit to guide us. Let us each one learn more diligence in our speech to speak only as we are led by the Holy Spirit.

WARNING, there is a fire

The tongue also is a fire, a world evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:6)

This verse is one of those warnings that needs to be taken seriously, extremely seriously. Lives are truly in jeopardy, the lives those who are very dear to you and me.

My Dad owned what was called a machine shop. He produced small parts used in refrigerators, automobiles and other larger manufactured products. It was a small shop and sometimes demanded a lot of Dad’s time. On one weekend, the family was scheduled to do something that was pretty important, I guess. Dad was working to get something done and Mom and us kids were waiting in the car. Mom was getting pretty upset and actually crying. She very rarely cried. I got impatient and went up to get Dad. His shop was on the 5^th floor of a building that rented him the space. When I got there, I told Dad that he was making My Mom cry. He came down pretty quickly.

A few years later, I was married and we were visiting from out of state. Dad had sold his shop and was teaching vocational school. They had a convertible that they enjoyed, very much. One evening Jeannie and I were borrowing it to go out to some entertainment. As we were leaving Mom said, “Don’t put the top down, in the garage.” I laughed and said, “How stupid do you think I am?” and we went outside. Dad followed me out. It turns out that Mom had tried to put the top down in the garage and done quite a bit of damage that had to be repaired. Dad repeated my words back to me, “You have made your mother cry.”

He loved my Mom, and my words had hurt him pretty deeply many years before. I loved my Mom and I had hurt my Mom, with my words just then.

Nearly 50 years later I remember those words and the pain that I caused with proud and careless words. Since then I have hurt others and some others have hurt me with hasty or proud words.

Emotional and verbal abuse may be the worst kind of abuse. There are no visible wounds or scars. The wounds are very real and the scars remain tender for many years. You can be truly sorry. But, you can never take those words back.

Please take these things to your heart. I am.