Watch Your Mouth
Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 13
“And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. . . . Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father,” 1 Kings 13:7–9, 11.
Watch Your Mouth
Father God, we pray for the rain of the Holy Spirit to wash away all our impurities in the name of Jesus. Set a watch over our lips, that by your grace you will cause our lips to bring forth pure and wise counsel. Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord God our Redeemer.
I want to encourage you today that you do not need to tell others details of the assignment God has given to you because divulging this can put you in trouble. This happened to a man of God in 1 Kings 13. God sent this man to prophesy against the sins that the king of Israel was committing. God had also instructed him not to eat any bread or drink any water. The man of God obeyed and after he prophesied to King Jeroboam against his idolatry, the king invited him over to eat bread and drink water. This man of God should have just said, “No thank you, sir. I’ve got to go.” Instead, he went into details, explaining God’s instructions to him.
Unfortunately, the sons of a prophet were also listening. And when the prophet came, his children quickly conveyed all they had heard. So, the prophet went after the man of God, caught up to him and told him that an angel had said that God would now condone eating and drinking. The man of God heeded the prophet’s words and ate. Soon he was killed by a lion because he had disobeyed God.
The message here is that you should not talk too much. The man of God had one weakness: releasing too much information to the wrong people. He spoke too much and was deceived by a prophet. This prophet was not a man of God; he did not receive the true Word of God. In fact, this passage shows that there are prophets who prophesy from their flesh, from things imagined in their minds.
The man of God was killed because he divulged the secrets God had given him. I pray that God will set a watch over our lips and deliver us from the judgment received by the man of God for speaking too much.
Prayer Points:
O Father God, we pray today for protection against the repercussions of opening our mouths too wide, sharing with the wrong people the secrets that you have given us. Forgive our foolish ways, O Lord. Give us the grace to watch our mouth. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
