A distinguished appearing elderly man sat across from me in a waiting room this afternoon. He must have been eighty and bore himself with dignity. The journal he was reading indicated a professional background. I was curious and was about to open a conversation with him when he turned to the lady sitting beside him and let out a disgusting string of foul four-letter words; so much for my judgment. I couldn’t have cared less after that. I wondered how often people have good opinions of us until we open our mouths.
I have always been intrigued by Acts 4:13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Peter and John looked uneducated but when they opened their mouths it was amazing. They were quite the opposite of the old fossil (see I have down graded him) who sat before me.
Jesus is the master teacher. He is the ultimate educator. Three years with Jesus was a doctoral degree for these fishermen. I am fascinated why Jesus rarely, if ever, appears in a list of the world’s great philosophers. It is most likely because they don’t want to be outclassed. Many philosophers take simple things and dress them up in multisyllabic words making them appear to be obscure. Jesus took deep things and dressed them in parables of common day things so everyone could understand. Now that I have said that I make myself appear to be stupid because I find the Sermon on the Mount to be one of the most difficult pieces of philosophy I have ever read.
Spend time with Jesus. Let Him educate you by reading His word. You will positively amaze people when you open your mouth.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 13, 2009
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574