Poison or Fruit?

“…Who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…” (Isaiah 44:26, NIV).

Think about this. You were made in the image of the One who said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Being the image bearer that you are, He has put a whole lot of power in your tongue too. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food” (Prov. 18:21, BBE). This version of this verse makes me chuckle. Is using your tongue dear to you? I’m pretty fond of talking, myself. God is telling us we are going to be eating our words, whether for good or for bad!

Food for thought today. How careful are we with what we let out of our mouths? Or even out of our keyboards? What are we sending out into the spiritual atmosphere around us? Remember, we live not just in a physical world, but in a spiritual world. The spiritual realm around us is just as real as the physical realm, even if it’s invisible.

Have you noticed how a single sentence someone utters can either bring heaviness into a room… or lighten it up with cheerfulness? That is the power of the tongue on prominent display. That someone just brought either life or death into the invisible atmosphere, and you are eating their fruit as food.

Think about this too. What kind of predictions do you usually make over your day? “This is going to be a great day!” Or “Ugh, I hate Mondays. It’s going to be awful, I feel it already…” How about predictions about other topics like, “Here goes nothing…”? Or, “This one is going to be just like his father”? Or, “Such and such an illness runs in my family. I’ll probably get it too”? Or “I’ll never get it right!”?

Could it be that we are sowing seeds into our future with these words? What amazing potential do we have, to instead sow seeds of life… into our day, our future, our loved ones?

What will you predict with your tongue today?

“…Who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…” (Isaiah 44:26, NIV).

“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit — you choose.” (Prov. 18:21, MSG).

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Is there a day that sticks out in your memory when someone spoke a word of life over you, that marked you long term?