{"id":6090,"date":"2015-02-06T03:52:50","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T03:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6090"},"modified":"2015-02-06T04:20:57","modified_gmt":"2015-02-06T04:20:57","slug":"james-37-8-untamed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6090","title":{"rendered":"James 3:7-8\u2014Untamed"},"content":{"rendered":"

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race.<\/i> \u00a0<\/sup>But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.<\/i> James 3:7-8<\/p>\n

I have four cats. They are docile (some would say lazy), affectionate, and generally well-behaved. They understand the word NO<\/i> and usually come when called by name (and using reverse psychology, I can get one to come when I call his rival\u2019s name). They know their rights and responsibilities as feline members of the household. They are domesticated\u2014tamed\u2014by me.<\/p>\n

James said every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea,<\/i> is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. <\/i>Lions, tigers, bears (oh, my!), camels, elephants, whales, rats, crows, chimps, cobras, raccoons, even fleas\u2026most animal species have experienced at least one member among them succumbing to human training and even going along with it (usually for treats\u2014they\u2019re not stupid). After all, in the beginning, God told the man and woman, \u201cBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth<\/strong><\/i>\u201d (see Genesis 1:28).<\/p>\n

To illustrate this point in dramatic fashion, I took Genesis 1:28 to heart as a sleep-deprived young teacher. You see, when I lived in a top-floor apartment facing a strip of woods, every spring a woodpecker would arrive on the roof right above my head just before dawn. Every morning I would awaken with a jolt as he drilled, RAT-A-TAT-TAT<\/i>, loud and relentlessly, probably in search of tasty bugs. I would hop out of bed, slam the window up and down, up and down, and whisper loudly, \u201cShoo! Go away!\u201d only to be reawakened three or four minutes later, on and on, every morning, every spring.<\/p>\n

After four years of interrupted sleep at the beak of this winged jack-hammer, that fifth spring, on the second morning of the woodpecker\u2019s yearly ritual, I was ready. The night before, I left my Bible open on the window sill to Genesis 1:28. Sure enough, like clockwork, before dawn the drilling began. I leaped out of bed, threw the window up and whispered loudly, \u201cYou listen to me, Mr. Woodpecker! It says right here in the Word of God that I \u2018have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth<\/i>.\u2019 Well, that includes you, you foul fowl, so I command you in Jesus\u2019 name, leave my roof and never come back! Find all the bugs you need in those trees; this roof is now officially off-limits to you and your descendents forever!\u201d<\/p>\n

I closed the window, slipped back into bed, and slept until my alarm went off. In fact, that woodpecker never returned. The rest of the spring, I slept until my alarm rang; and for the next two springs I lived there, never again did woodpeckers rat-a-tat-tat<\/i> above my head.<\/p>\n

Before you get excited and think, \u201cWhat a woman of faith and power!\u201d I must admit one thing. I have failed woefully when it comes to taming my tongue. James was right. \u201cEvery species of beasts\u2026 has been tamed by the human race.<\/i> \u00a0<\/sup>But no one can tame the tongue\u2026<\/i>\u201d It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t care what I say\u2014I do. It\u2019s not that I cuss like a sailor\u2014I don\u2019t. It\u2019s just that all too often I find myself diving into conversations that I need to backpedal out of. Or repent concerning. Or apologize for. If you don\u2019t think that\u2019s true for you, as well, just listen to yourself over the span of a week or so and you may change your mind.<\/p>\n

When James said that the tongue is<\/i> a restless evil and full of deadly poison<\/i>, he wasn\u2019t referring to the words of the wicked or the unsaved. He was writing to believers. He was talking about their<\/em> tongues\u2014and ours<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s the urge to share a juicy tidbit about someone that would undermine their reputation or an impulsive need to talk on and on about how awful (or amazingly super-wonderful) your life is\u2014it\u2019s downright exasperating to control that slippery muscle!<\/p>\n

David Guzik, in his commentary on this verse, related a story about a lady who told John Wesley that her talent was to speak her mind. He said that Wesley replied to her, “I don’t think God would mind if you buried that talent.” Summing up his thought, Guzik wrote, \u201cSpeaking forth everything that comes to mind is unwise, poisonous speech.\u201d [David Guzik’s commentary can be accessed via the Blue Letter Bible website.]<\/p>\n

The human tongue has remained untamed throughout history\u2014in James\u2019 time, in Wesley\u2019s time, and now in our time. A Christian who desires to live holy can receive divine help to keep his tongue under control as he walks humbly before the Lord. But it\u2019s not like mastering the times table or riding a bike\u2014things which once learned stick with you forever. No, the tongue requires constant, vigilant oversight.<\/p>\n

Remember when James said that all species of animals have been tamed by men? One of my cats\u2014Ember\u2014knows not to jump on the kitchen table. More than once, though, I\u2019ve walked into the house and there she is, all googly-eyed, staring at me. Once we lock eyes, she\u2019s off in a flash, her training suddenly returning to her.<\/p>\n

So it is with your tongue, times a trillion. My cat is not on that table every<\/i> time I come into the house; just once in a blue moon. Truly, my little black cat is better behaved than anyone’s<\/em> tongue\u2014James said so. Every hour of every day, your tongue must be forced to toe the line. You and I\u2014as believers who want to live lives of honor and holiness\u2014must recognize this point and be prepared to stand vigilant guard over our words. For the rest of our lives.<\/p>\n

The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; the one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.<\/em> Proverbs 13:3<\/p>\n

He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles.<\/em> Proverbs 21:23<\/p>\n

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.<\/em> Psalm 141:3<\/p>\n

Gotta go\u2014I’ve got guard duty (over my mouth).<\/p>\n

Dorothy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. \u00a0But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. James 3:7-8 I have four cats. They are docile (some would say lazy), affectionate, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6090"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6099,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions\/6099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}