Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Once Salt, Now Mud



Eugene Peterson can hit a nail right on the head sometimes. Do I take his exact words to be Scripture? No. Do I totally dig his relevant and insightful paraphrasing of Scripture? Indubitably!

In James 3 we are given fair warning of the inherent power of the tongue. What screws up most relationships? The tongue. What praises God beyond godly works? The tongue. What curses folks? The tongue. This tiny muscle is powerful, yes, but it is also despicably duplicitous.

In his Message://Remix, Eugene Peterson updates the former "Can a salt spring produce fresh water?" illustration in James 3 with one that I find all the more humbling in thought:
"You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?" (The Message://Remix, James 3:12b)

The mud hole is me. Pure and simple. We are all instinctual mud holes. Jesus, however, invites us to become crystal clear springs in our daily walk. Will a spring occasionally produce some mud? Yes. If anybody claims to have it all figured out, they are just covering up their own mud hole. Know that none of us has it down 100%, and keep striving to give others the clear, refreshing life-water that is within each of you.

Kudos,
Troy

No comments:

Post a Comment