I glanced at Stan and noticed that some blueberry from the pancakes was stuck on his lips. I did a motion with my hand on my lip. He got the message and wiped his mouth with the napkin.
“Thanks,” he said. “Sometimes I get so involved in eating these blueberry pancakes that I kind of lose track and miss my mouth!”
Continuing, he added, “It’s not unlike what can happen if my lips are unclean in God’s sight.”
“Unclean lips in God’s sight?” I replied. “In what way?”
“This is something that’s mentioned in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New.”
“Mentioned in both,” I replied. “Must be important!”
“I think so,” Stan said. “Just like everything God says. If He says something, it’s important; if He says it more than once, in more than one way, it’s even more important!”
“In the first instance,” he continued, “the prophet Isaiah related a vision he was given about seeing the Lord sitting on His throne, being exalted. From what he saw, he admitted that he was a man of unclean lips, living among people with unclean lips.”
“So, was that the end of him?”
“Nope,” Stan replied. “Isaiah went on to say that an angel touched his lips with a burning coal and he was made clean, not just his lips, but his whole being.”
“Kind of like when you wiped your mouth with the napkin,” I said.
“It is,” he replied. “While the napkin wasn’t on fire, I chose to wipe my lips with it. And God wants me to choose to have clean lips for both sides of eternity.”
“Both sides? In what way?”
“Being saved for eternity by confessing Jesus with my mouth,” Stan replied, “takes lips that have been made clean. Secondly, for the time I have remaining on this side of eternity, there is a constant battle to keep my lips clean so that what comes out of my mouth comes from a heart that is right with God.”
Concluding, he said, “Just as you let me know that there was something on my lips that should be removed, the Holy Spirit does the same thing all of the time. The difference is that He offers me His napkin. My choice to accept it is crucial to having lips that are clean in God’s sight!”
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Bible verses to consider:
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. Psalm 145:21.
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven. Isaiah 6:5 – 7.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14.
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9, 10.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for cleansing me of my sins and unrighteousness by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for those who brought me to the truth so I could confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord and look forward to spending eternity in your presence when it’s time. Thank you, too, for wanting my mouth to confess you in how I live my life here before then. Too often what comes from my lips does not praise, honor, glorify, or please you. Please forgive all of those lapses. Help me in following your lead so all that comes out of my mouth comes only from a heart that is right with you. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Clean lips are essential in our relationship with God. Have you confessed Jesus as Lord with your lips? If not, why? If you have the assurance of salvation, how are you doing with having clean lips for your life here? Are you doing as well as you would like? As well as God would like? If your answer is “no,” do you know how to have the clean lips God intends?
Waiting for the Train 