The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. (Proverbs 10:11)
When we think of fountains of life, we tend to think “Ah, refreshing, cool, clear, sweet-tasting water.” And that description may be true, but if you don’t like the flavor, there’s a problem. Truth told I’m not fond of water, and Dad is even worse. He claims water makes him sick to his stomach. I drink lots of water because it’s low calorie, cold, and good for me, not because it tickles my taste buds. Dad refuses to drink it – or any drink in sufficient quantities and his body suffers as a result.
My point is that what makes the mouth of the righteous a fountain of life is not that what flows from it “tastes” good. What flows from the mouth of the righteous is what causes us to function in a healthy way. We aren’t required to like the flavor, and, of course, we don’t.
No, we want to drink pop, or alcohol, or, well, something that tastes good. Too often, those things that taste good cause our body to function in a way that isn’t healthy. In other words, in a way that does violence to our bodies. I don’t happen to like carbonation or alcohol, but caffeine and sugar, that’s another story. We might not even notice the damage, the result of the violence done to our bodies for years.
There are a lot of “drinks” in our society. We’re asked “What’s wrong with letting (name that group) live the way they want to? They’re not hurting anyone, or at least they’re not hurting anyone else but themselves.” The problem is that the damage may not show up for years, perhaps even a generation or two. By then, there may not be anything we can do to reverse the damage done. From the mouths of the righteous come the living waters – the living waters of the Word.
It is in the Word that we will find living water. Adding something to it to make it more palatable to us is likely to do violence to the universe God created.
My point is that what makes the mouth of the righteous a fountain of life is not that what flows from it “tastes” good. What flows from the mouth of the righteous is what causes us to function in a healthy way. We aren’t required to like the flavor, and, of course, we don’t.
No, we want to drink pop, or alcohol, or, well, something that tastes good. Too often, those things that taste good cause our body to function in a way that isn’t healthy. In other words, in a way that does violence to our bodies. I don’t happen to like carbonation or alcohol, but caffeine and sugar, that’s another story. We might not even notice the damage, the result of the violence done to our bodies for years.
There are a lot of “drinks” in our society. We’re asked “What’s wrong with letting (name that group) live the way they want to? They’re not hurting anyone, or at least they’re not hurting anyone else but themselves.” The problem is that the damage may not show up for years, perhaps even a generation or two. By then, there may not be anything we can do to reverse the damage done. From the mouths of the righteous come the living waters – the living waters of the Word.
It is in the Word that we will find living water. Adding something to it to make it more palatable to us is likely to do violence to the universe God created.
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