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Day 148 Proverbs 17:7 Proverbs 17:7 Excellent speech becomes not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince. Everyone can hear whether what a person says is genuine, heartfelt, or just for the benefit of the person speaking. People tend to take a person’s words apart and put them under a microscope to see if there is any validity to what they say. As king, Solomon gave many speeches, and heard many. He knew when a person spoke with sincerity or just to be heard. Jesus told the people how they should speak, especially when he taught about prayer, because hypocrites and heathens repeated their requests expecting that God would hear them because of their eloquent speech. Matthew 6:5 And when thou pray, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knows what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Keep it simple. Keep it to the point. God knows your needs. So too, people also can see through your words. You don’t need to give a flowery oration about a subject, when a simple answer will suffice. At the Battle of Gettysburg, two men spoke. One orator spoke for a couple of hours, and no one remembers what he said. The other spoke for two minutes and his words are part of our history. Those words belong to President Abraham Lincoln in the famous Gettysburg Address. He kept it simple. As Christians, people tend to make the gospel more complicated than it is. When Jesus taught the people by parables, it was with a simple message they understood. He kept it simple. He kept it to the point. The point of the gospel is that Jesus was born to set you free through the blood he shed on the cross. His resurrection gives you eternal life. It’s a simple gospel. It isn’t flowery so a person needs an interpreter, but is in simple words you can understand. By your words, people will know if you are the genuine article or not. Keep it simple. Let’s pray: Father, help me not to complicate your word with flowery words, but help me keep it simple so anyone can understand it. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 3 February 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay