THINKING FIRST
Today's reading: Proverbs 25

"Timely advice is as lovely as golden apples in a silver basket." Proverbs 25:11 NLT

Oh, that we would think before we speak.

We, as in myself, mostly.

What we say is important--when we say it may be even more important.

-A person reeling from a new diagnosis doesn't need to know your personal horror story in dealing with the same disease.

-A gal who is celebrating finding out she's expecting doesn't need to know the detailed account of your 37 hour labor sage.

-A friend who has just heard rumors about her employer falling on hard times doesn't need to hear about your cousin and their 16 month wait on the unemployment line.

-A mother of a very hard-to-handle two year-old doesn't need to know about your juvenile delinquent nephew.

And sometimes, and I sure hope this comes out with the love in which it's intended, sometimes a person who has just been handed tough news doesn't need a Bible verse quoted flippantly over their situation.

It's true.

Timely advice is just that, timely. It comes at 'the' time when it's most accepted, appreciated, understood, needed and digested.


At the wrong time even the best of advice or the greatest Bible verse isn't needed.

Let's, and yes, I'm still talking to myself, pray before we open our mouths and allow what's in our heads to come spilling out.