Yield Your Tongue To Jesus

608 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 20:1,2 “ And there happened to be there a rebel, whose name was Sheba the son of Bichri, (Bik' ri) a Benjamite. And he blew a trumpet, and said: "We have no share in David, Nor do we have inheritance in the son of Jesse; Every man to his tents, O Israel!" 2 So every man of Israel deserted David, and followed Sheba the son of Bichri. But the men of Judah, from the Jordan as far as Jerusalem, remained loyal to their king. (2 Sam 20:1,2) What? Another rebellion? This time from a Benjamite! The tribe that gave us King Saul and Shimei, (the curser of David when he left Jerusalem the first time) now gives us another brash rebel named Sheba. Once again we see the seed of bitterness and unforgiveness brewing and growing in the hearts of men. The removal of Saul from the throne has left a burning ember of hatred and disdain for David in many a Benjamite, and the cruel words of Judah was the spark that set off a raging fire. All the Israelites (who felt that they had been slighted by David) join in the rebellion. Unwieldy tongues are a great problem for all, but it should not be so for followers of Christ. Listen again to what the Holy Spirit says in Jas 3:5-12, “ Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. Take heed here my friend, “No man came tame the tongue.” It can only be tamed by Jesus. Maybe we should always start our day with a prayer that yields our tongues to Jesus, asking Him to help our words to be a source of continual blessing, rather than cursing to others.