I have no lack of clean water to fill my heart, I only need to choose to make use of it.
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Scripture
James 3:9-11
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”
Observation
Inconsistent flow from a spring, indicates pollution at its source. Inconsistent speech, reveals pollution in my heart.
Application
Scripture teaches that my mouth will speak that which my heart is full of. If I curse my neighbor with one breath and then praise God with the next, my speech is revealing a polluted catchment tank in my heart. God’s love cannot mix with hatred. His forgiveness cannot mix with unforgiveness. The self-control developed by the fruit of His Spirit cannot mix with untamed, angry outbursts.
When my speech reveals heart-pollution, I need to examine my source. God’s Word and God’s voice will not cause that pollution, so what have I been allowing to affect my heart?
Yesterday I went snorkeling with my son on a section of the Kona coast where freshwater springs bubble up from underneath the salty ocean water. No matter how much salt water surrounds them, the springs consistently flow with fresh water. How can they remain fresh, when surrounded by the pressure of all the surrounding salt? Their source is unpolluted–they simply have no salt within them, to flow outward.
At times life feels like those springs. The pollution of worldly ideas, values, and messages swirl around me on a daily basis. Yet even though I don’t control what surrounds me, through the Holy Spirit I can control what I allow to fill my heart.
The pure supply of God’s word is always available to me. His Spirit is alive within me, and guiding me. I have no lack of clean water to fill my heart, I only need to choose to make use of it. This week I choose to drink from the clean water of God’s word, so that the things that flow out from me would be Christ-honoring and pure.
Prayer
God, thank you for the pure water of your Word. Reveal to me when there is pollution in my heart, so that I could choose to walk daily closer to you and daily more in tune with your heart. Thank you for the strength of your Holy Spirit–not only to resist the pollution, but also to overflow with your heart and values so that your truth could flow out of me to affect the world around me.
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