I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 30th of August, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Ecclesiastes 5:1-2: 

“Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.” 
“Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth; 
Therefore let your words be few.”

We really have got to watch what we say.  

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” 
Matthew 6:6-7

We need to be very careful what we say. Do you remember the story of King Herod and John, the Baptist? You know, King Herod, the Bible tells us, respected John the Baptist greatly. He really looked up to him and he made a very bad mistake. When he was under the influence of alcohol, he opened his big mouth and said something that he never should have said. He said to the young girl, “If you dance for me, I will give you anything you want.” Her mother hated John the Baptist, so when she had danced before Herod, he said, “What do you want?” And she said, “I want John the Baptist’s head on a platter”, and he was very upset about that, but because he had made that outrageous statement in front of everybody, under the influence of alcohol, he had to follow through. So he had to kill the man that he admired greatly, and even looked up to.

I want to say to you today that we need to be very careful with our words. The Bible tells us our words need to be few. We need to sit and think carefully when we speak to Jesus because whatever promise we make to the Lord, He will hold us to it. We really need to be careful with that business deal. We have to follow through once we have said we will do it. That proposal, young lady - if that young man proposes to you, be sure when you accept that you follow through. And most of all, with our commitment to Christ, when you publicly confess your faith, you need to follow through. 

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.