The Bible Edge
Practical Points to Ponder from Proverbs
Proverbs 12:25
Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
This devotion was going to start with these words; “With the sad news being reported on all media formats today this world needs a ‘good word’.” But frankly, every day of this so-called “modern age” bad news has become a staple of reporting. Someone once said that good news does not sell newspapers. Neither does it sell advertising on news networks. Bad news is good for the news business. But for those who consume all their news, so called, it can bring heaviness in the heart. The pictures, stories, and accounts of treachery and terror are heart breaking.
But a good word makes the heart glad. Heaviness makes it stoop, but one single good word can make it glad! In the Bible there are many statements that we can collectively say fall into the category of a “good word.” For instance, Jeremiah 33:3 states: Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Or Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Or even John 3:16, or Psalm 23, or the great resurrection chapter I Corinthians 15.
But let us bring it home. Today, or tomorrow, or within a week or a month every person reading this will encounter someone who has heaviness in the heart. You will be able to spot them for they are stooping, not physically, but in the spirit. The spring in their step has gone, the crispness of their voice now wavers, the hope in their eyes has dimmed. They are everywhere. At work, at church, at play, and everywhere in between folks have a heavy heart. So do this… give them a good word. A good word is an encouraging word, a pleasant statement, or even a nod and a smile.
Everyone along this path that we call life is prone to a heavy heart. Give them a good word. How? Plan it. Yeah, think about a word you can say to another that would lighten their heavy heart and make them glad. Perhaps it is a thank you, or a choice word in a due season, or a verse from the Bible, or a sincere statement of how much they mean to you and that they are important.
A good word costs nothing except a little energy and perhaps a dose of humility. Remember, the antidote for a heavy heart is a good word.
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
Comments