“I was reading in the Book of Psalms last night,” Stan commented one morning while we waited for breakfast.
“Find anything interesting?” I asked.
“Always,” Stan replied. “And last night I was looking at a single verse that is helpful in making certain that what I focus on and what I say is acceptable to God.”
“Sounds like that verse might be useful,” I said. “Which one is it?”
“Psalm 19:14,” he replied and went on to recite it. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
“That’s a great prayer,” I said, “but I wonder about where it says, ‘Let the words’.”
“What do you wonder?” Stan asked.
“If the prayer is ‘let the words,’ who is going to keep them from being acceptable?”
“Guess who,” Stan said with a smile. “Us, at least me.” He then added, “If I’m not sufficiently focused on what God has for me to focus on, and if I don’t speak the words that glorify Him, there’s only one person to point at, and that’s me.”
“Okay,” I replied, “but how do I go about ‘letting’ the words of my mouth and what I meditate on be acceptable to God?”
“How about what the apostle Paul wrote in his second letter to the church in Corinth?” Stan asked.
“What’s that?”
“Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
“Oh,” I replied, “if I take every thought captive and watch what I meditate on and speak, there’s a much better chance that my thoughts and words will be acceptable to God. Is that it?”
“Sure seems like it to me,” Stan said with a smile.
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Bible verses to consider:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14.
Let my meditation be pleasing to Him; as for me, I shall be glad in the Lord. Psalm 104:34.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for showing me the truth that you want my thoughts and words to be acceptable to you. I confess that too often they are not because of the choices I make in what I think and speak. You know how very much help I need in this area, and I ask for all of the help you can provide. Please, Father, help me in surrendering all of me to the “Helper” you have provided in the form of your Holy Spirit so what I meditate on and what I say is, indeed, acceptable to you. Thank you that I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Do you want your thoughts and words to be acceptable to God because you have accepted His free and gracious provision of life eternally with Him when your time here is completed? If you have not accepted that provision, why? What’s in the way? If you are a Christian with the assurance of salvation and redemption, how are you doing with what you meditate on and what you speak ? Are they acceptable in God’s sight? If you sense the need for change in that, how is that change going to happen? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 