September 14
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ECCLESIASTES 5
4 When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. 5 It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. 6 Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. – Ecclesiastes 5:4-7
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ECCLESIASTES 5 LET NOT YOUR MOUTH LEAD YOU INTO SIN
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
Remember that our tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness
No human being can tame the tongue, it is a restless evil full of deadly poison
If we forget that our mouths are the instruments that leads us to sin
How careless would we be? Wouldn’t it bring us into temptations?
Put a guard on your mouths or you will be unable to fight your flesh
Let words of truth only come out of our lips so that we will be spared of death
Let our conversations be full of grace so that we will say only what is pure and beautiful
May our mouths only speak of what will build up others so it will only be beneficial.
When we make a vow to the Lord, let us make sure that we commit to do it
We ought to do the same with others, let’s not make promises that we won’t keep
It is better not to pledge something when you cannot keep your allegiance
There is nothing worst than making others believe your vows when they are untrue.
When we aspire much of many things, we increase our chances to sin
Remember that desires and cravings are what lures us to want to win
When desires are conceived, it makes us sin which leads to death
Let us therefore not give life to our pleasures and cravings.
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think it is important for us to guard our mouths constantly?
• How are our mouths the instruments that lead us to sin?
• Why does James call the tongue a restless evil full of deadly poison?
• If the mouth leads us to sin, what can we do to stop it from doing that?