We have a local BBQ establishment in town that leaves me flummoxed every time I go. Several bottles of sauce sit on the table: spicy, mild, sweet, mustard-based. In my southern upbringing, if there is a bright red squirt bottle on the table, it contains ketchup, but at this establishment, the bright red squirt bottle contains spicy BBQ sauce. I like the spicy sauce on my BBQ, but I prefer not to eat it on my fries. Never mind the additional bottle on the table clearly wearing a Hunts® ketchup label, I am a creature of habit who always reaches for the red bottle and squirts a pile of spicy BBQ sauce for French fry dipping!
The moral of the story is that no matter what something may look like on the outside, when you squeeze it, whatever is on the inside comes out. That truth applies not only to squirt bottles, but also to people. Read what Jesus had to say about it:
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. – Luke 6:45
Listen to a person long enough and you will get a good x-ray into their heart. The person who snipes at others with cutting, sarcastic, bitter comments belies a heart clogged with bitterness and guilt. A heart under the influence of the Holy Spirit, speaks love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23) Those who listen to us, will get a clear picture of where we are spiritually as well.
We need to heed Solomon’s advice to guard our hearts since it is the wellspring of all of life’s issues. (Proverbs 4:23) How can we keep our hearts clean? Is there a cleansing tool to help us with this most noble pursuit? Yes: God’s Word. (Psalm 119:9)
I cannot overemphasize our need to bathe ourselves in Scripture. Read it, meditate on it, memorize it, post it where we will see it often. We cannot hide the effects, positively or negatively, of the place of God’s Word in our lives. All people need to do is listen to us talk.
The only way to change what comes out is to change what is inside. Let’s clean out the ketchup and be filled with the Holy Spirit as He implants God’s Word in our lives.