Two Ears One Mouth

Remember the days when your parents told you not to talk so much? The days when you would pop off your mouth before thinking about what you are saying?

Today I was sitting in Greek class and we were learning about infinitives, and in particular we were looking at them in the context of James 1:19. To focus in a little closer, when it says, "be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger," the imperatives are to listen, to speak, and to anger. The problem with the translation is the aspect of purpose that is lost in the translation. Purpose is important, without it hearing is just hearing, and talking is just gibberish. Being purposeful is important and without purpose our lives would mean nothing. Now take this and apply it, where is the first place we should be purposeful? 

Often people use the word intentional to describe their walk with God, or in other words purposeful. Meditating are nothing without purpose. I know that in that moment when meditating, I gain nothing from talking over God by inserting my own two cents. I also find that when I insert my own thoughts into the meditation, it does not work like I feel it should, instead I find myself becoming frustrated, annoyed and even angry. And so we loop back to James 1:19 and as we meditate on it a little more on this passage and we see the connection between a quick tongue and being quick to anger. What a good lesson to learn going into the summer. When often we are faced with a camper who will test our patience beyond what we could normally take. Meditate. Meditate on the cross and in that moment remember the patience of Christ that we have learned in meditation. This just stresses even more the importance of meditating purposefully. To focus on that time with God and listen to what He has to say before speaking yourself. Meditate on HIS word, not your own. God and His presence is the imperative.