Proverbs 15:2
Knowledge flows like spring water from the wise; fools are leaky faucets, dripping nonsense.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Years ago, an elderly cousin took my mother, my sister and me to a place located just northeast of Wilburn where my great-grandmother and her family lived when she was a child. The home was near a wet-weather spring that my cousin called “Slate Springs.” He had been there earlier in the morning and dug back leaves and debris in the creek to reveal a slab of slate in a creek bed where the water bubbled forth, clean and clear. According to this cousin, my great-grandmother’s family lived in a house up on the hill above this spring and hiked down to collect water for their daily use. Why they lived so far from the spring itself is a mystery … the climb back to the house with a heavy pail of water must have been exhausting.
Equally mysterious and intriguing to me is how the water bubbles forth from the ground as a spring. I know in scientific terms what causes this, but I am still in awe of the process, the force, and the result. On the other hand, there is no mystery about the frustration and aggravation of a dripping, leaky faucet! So when you think of knowledge and the words of a wise person as like a spring of clear, clean water versus the talk of a foolish person resembling the irritation of a leaky dripping faucet, you get the picture, don’t you?
For my great-grandmother and her family, the spring represented life. It provided the water they needed for everyday living. And the words of someone who speaks prayerfully and carefully add much to life, as well. On the other hand, those who speak without thinking or say unkind, irritating things… those who drone on incessantly without saying anything of substance or merit … are like the nagging faucet drip.
Which one represents you these days? Do you think before you speak? Do you offer encouraging, positive, hope-filled messages to others that convey your faith in Jesus and your joy in His salvation? Or do you rant and rave, criticize and gossip, speak unkindly and use unsavory language – and irritate the dickens out of everyone you meet?
The next time you speak, think of the spring and the faucet. Choose your words carefully … choose knowledge and wisdom over nonsense. Choose the bubbling spring over the dripping faucet, and bless others rather than irritate them. You will honor God in the bargain … and that is the biggest blessing of all!
©2010 Debbie Robus
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