This summer might be remembered by some people for the wrong reasons, writes Bert Cargill of St Monans Gospel Hall.
Heat waves and prolonged drought have badly affected many parts of the country, but worst of all have been these terrible wild fires. Many countries on the continent have fared really badly, with loss of life and property, but nearer here, huge areas of land in the Cairngorms, in Suffolk, and at Arthur’s Seat, have been disfigured and spoiled by fires getting out of control. It will take a long time for them to recover their beauty and usefulness.
And they all started with something small.
I found a verse in the Bible which describes this, James 3v5: “Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth.” A newer version puts it even more graphically: “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” That’s just what happened in too many places.
The verses in James chapter 3 are describing what can happen when words are spoken hastily, how they can wound and hurt others, and spread trouble far beyond their origin. It says that our tongues are like a fire that cannot be tamed. God gave us the ability to use our tongues for good or ill, but what we use them for is up to us.
We speak thousands of words every day. Do you ever speak to God? He wants to hear us confess how we need Him to guard and control our lives, to confess that we are sinful and need His forgiveness. In another part of the New Testament we read these words of Jesus, “Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you will find.” Because Jesus died to save us from our sins, all who trust in Him can receive eternal life.
Just ask!
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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