I Never Saw A Cow Until...

“Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

Proverbs 29:20

The bible is very explicit that the wise choose their words carefully. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 10:19 echo’s the same thought, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.” My sister had a poster in her bedroom in the 70’s that said something like, “What you heard is not what I said and what I said is not what I meant and what I meant is not what you heard“, or something like that. I never understood it, ha! My point is this, even when we try our best to be clear we can easily be mistaken.

I had to laugh at the little story about a pastor that you could say suffered from “hoof in mouth disease” one Sunday morning as he shared with his congregation. His cute little story goes like this…

“Having grown up just outside New York City, I barely knew a cow from an ear of corn. Until, that is, I married a small-town Ohio farm girl. While I was in seminary school, I had a temporary assignment at a church in a rural community. The day of my first sermon, I tried very hard to fit in.  Maybe too hard!

With my wife sitting in the first pew, I began my discourse: “I never saw a cow until I met my wife.” (Story ends and maybe the sermon too!)

Now that is funny, awkward but funny as you can imagine the stunned expressions by both this young pastors wife and the congregation as they first heard these words without a complete understanding of their intent. We don’t have to make every mistake ourselves and this little illustration serves as an exhortation as well as a reminder to all of us to keep our guard up and pray like David did in Psalm 141:3 where he penned these words, “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” In other words, think about and pray about the words you choose.

That’s the goal today, loved one, bless, encourage and seek to edify the people you come in contact with today, enjoying watching God speak through you as you minister to others remembering the words we speak may be short and sweet but there echo continues on and on…

“Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

Colossians 4:6

I LOVE YOU!