Purveyor of Wisdom

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

PURVEYOR OF WISDOM

Prov 29:20

20 Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

NIV

Haste makes waste is a favorite saying of people who take a long time in doing some task. But it is also true in how we approach our words. To simply babble useless words without thought as to how they may affect the feelings of others is certainly spoken in haste. The Hebrew word translated haste besides meaning in a hurry, it carries the meaning of being narrow or in a narrow place. This might be seen as the opposite of width or depth. This hurried speech is narrow or has no depth. It seems it would be far better to weigh our words before uttering them. How will our words be heard or comprehended? Will they have a positive or negative effect on the hearer? If we speak in haste we can most likely expect a negative result, thus being foolish in our speaking. Let us consider our words, be slow to speak, but when we do, speak with words of substance. Alexander Pope is credited with the saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. This is also true of our words. Why do we need to feel rushed in either offering information or a response to either a comment or question? We should be advised to thoughtfully consider what we are about to offer or respond with. We cannot take back words. Once blurted out they are forever out there, much as words written on social media, they cannot be erased, they even travel the course of time. We only need to view documents that have been written thousands of years ago, they still speak, either great truths or foolish babble. So too we should not be so hasty in our making a comment or responding to someone’s post on social media. We always need to remember we represent our Lord and Savior. We are his ambassadors to the lost and dying world. People should not see us as being foolish in our comments, but rather a purveyor of wisdom.