James 3:5-6 NLT
When I was a little girl, they used to have quite a few Smoky the Bear commercials. The campaign slogan was, Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires. I remember one in particular - a man driving down a beautiful country road on a day full of sunshine, smiling, windows down, listening to the radio, and finishing a cigarette. He takes one last puff and finger flicks it to the side of the road. The camera pans to the cigarette as it lay smoldering in some dry leaves on the side of the road, and with the breeze, blows the smoldering heat into flame and carries the now burning leaves into the woods, while the man drives off - merrily oblivious to what he has done.
The next frame opens to this same man shaking his head in disbelief and disgust after reading a newspaper headline regarding the thousands of acres destroyed by the out of control forest fire
caused by the carelessness of someone tossing a lit cigarette out the window... still clueless that it was his cigarette.
Heated words carelessly flung in a flash of anger can do the same thing. They can lay there and smolder as the perpetrator goes merrily along without giving the words a second thought. But we nurse, curse and rehearse them in our hearts, over and over, blowing on the embers till the flames lick at our very souls. Then the fire greedily spreads to every "dry timber" around us, spreading like a bad airborne virus, infecting (affecting) everyone within reach.
Don't do it! Fight those fires with the right kind of water. Learn to put out fires by the Living Water of the Word of God. In it, we find the wellspring of life. We learn of forgiveness and self-control and how to treat each other.
A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire - And only we can prevent forest fires.
Prayer:
Father,
Manifest the fruit of Your Holy Spirit in our lives. May our every word reflect Your love and light. If we're going to start fires, may they be revival fires born of prayer and time spent with You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen
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