In this age when so many talk without honor or substance, the value of much talk is diminished to be near worthless. So, let our actions in this life bear witness to speak of our convictions for us - without direct conversation - until such time that the beauty of Jesus' character demonstrated through us draws them near to inquire who He is.... J.H.
Talk, talk, talk, - that's what talking heads do...
... We're incessantly bombarded with opporunities to be swayed by diatribe, innuendo and attention grabbing pitches. They're talking on tv, radio, the internet and in print and talking is what they get paid to do. It's their job - work in return for money used to pay their bills and support their lifestyles. And when it comes to what they choose to talk about in order to progress in their employment and enrich their own lives, the scarier, more graphic, obscene, or concerning they can be to in order to catch your interest, the more money and power over the air they can command by their success. These days, the bait and content that they use when bait fishing for your brain doesn't even have to be true as long as it serves their interest. Their ultimate goal is to line their pockets and those of their media mogul bosses ... But in realty, how does it serve you? At the end of the day, what does it do for you?
There's so much talk out there with varying twists on the same event that it's getting harder to sort out fact from fiction or just plain political bias. Every mouth has an opinion designed to concern, infuriate or validate you, but when you finally disconnect your word pummeled brain from the hook, where does it leave you? Concerned? infuriated?, validated? (maybe unjustly so) or just plain worn out. What we hear in the world today may or may not even be true thereby rending itself potentially useless and leaving our emotions potentially askew without even giving us anything of real value.
"The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?" Ecclesiastes 6:11 (NLT)
I used to listen with great interest to much of what was said over the airwaves as if my future and that of my large family might potentially depend on the outcome of so many issues. But as the years have passed I began to realize that there are things that have been said that have a far greater and most certain impact - words that provide far greater certainty than anything that any of those limitless talking heads have ever uttered ... and every one of them is true and will be proven to be so. Like this ...
One of the things that everyone knows for sure about this life is that it ends. But I'm not one to ever believe that when our bodies die here our spirits just disappear like vapor into nonexistence while the bodies we once inhabited are returning to dust. I know without any doubt that there's another life and another much more horrifying death than the physical one we're so often tempted to concern ourselves with and that what we do with our lives here determines which of those two outcomes we've chosen to experience after our short time expires. So having words that are true and available to us in making this life's decisions is critical.
How will our lives be measured in the end? What will determine whether or not they were in any way truly successful or counted for anything? Will we be measured in the end by the things we acquired and were forced to leave behind? When our bodies are in decay, will those possessions still comfort us? When we die here and can no longer influence people or gain "likes" on social media, will it still matter to us how popular we were before our bodies expired? I can't answer for everyone, but I know for myself that it won't.
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?l Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”" Matthew 16:24-28 (NLT)
When we stand before Holy God, having been stripped bare of all possessions, wealth, earthly fame, notoriety, anything worldly, and our lives are sifted through the veil of God's judgment in the search for anything of value in His economy ... what will be left? What of my life's reputation will matter to God and what will I offer in my defense knowing that according to God's law, I've failed? ... Only one thing - one decision, evidenced to be true by my sincerity in following up on that decision in my prior life. That decision? To believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, accept the sacrifice of His life in my place to pay for my crimes against God's law. And following that, anything that I've done or said in my sincere effort to be obedient and faithful to Christ and His teaching.
"Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead." Ecclesiastes 5:7 (NLT)
We're not our own masters - we never have been, but we will stand before the One who is ...
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." James 4:13-17 (NKJ)
Right now, the prince of the power of the air bombards the hearts and minds of men with so many words - words intended to influence our lives in anyway that he can. Some of what we hear is true, but much of what we hear speaks purely to humanistic concern as if there was no God. Soo many mouths are speaking now, ... but in the end, one voice will have the omnipotent and sovereign power to silence all others.
The word of only one voice will matter then and will reveal the absolute truth and final word. And when that day comes, all of the talk in the world won't change what stood to be true all along - Every word that God's made available for us to know.
"...They will try to escape the terror of the LORD and the glory of his majesty as he rises to shake the earth. Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?" Isaiah 2:20-22 (NLT)
Talking heads talk - seemingly endlessly, but there's only one voice that matters. Find it. Hear it. Follow it. It's the one real scoop that you can count on.
"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8 (NLT)
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