get that out of your mouth!

once again God has used the relationship that i have with my kids as an object lesson for me. for some reason, and i am not sure why, my oldest son, josiah, is constantly picking things up and putting them in his mouth. i catch him chewing on plastic, rubber or anything that he can demolish with his teeth. i know it is bad for his teeth and i have told him that. but, it does not seem to make a difference to him because there are so many times that i have heard myself say, "get that out of your mouth," to him that i even ignore myself now!

i still tell him that every time i catch him with inedible things in his mouth but it is mostly just out of a mommy habit and not because i am that concerned about it anymore. but, now i have a 16 month old that is at that age of picking up everything and putting them in his mouth too. i can always tell by the way that he is holding his mouth that he has something in it. i say the same thing to him, "get that out of your mouth jacob," and obediently he walks over to me and spits whatever it is into my hand, which some times has really grossed me out. it is really important that i notice when jacob has something in his mouth that should not be there and make him get rid of it because it can be dangerous for him. he could swallow something that he could choke on or make him very sick. i am not just being mean and not letting him have a fun time. i am concerned about how he could be affected if he continues to put things in his mouth that do not belong there.

the last time i found myself telling jacob to spit out whatever was in his mouth, he very quickly obeyed. but a few minutes later, there was something else in his mouth. over and over again throughout that day, we carried out the same scenario. i thought to myself jacob just does not understand the danger that he is in by putting those things in his mouth. if he only knew how harmful that it could be, he would stop doing it. immediately i felt the Lord say to me that is how he thinks about his children when we allow negative, ugly, harmful words come forth from our mouths. if we could only understand the danger that we are in when we dabble in talking negatively or gossip or using ungodly language, we would stop doing it. just as physically dangerous as it is for jacob to put things in his mouth that he can choke on, it is spiritually dangerous for me to allow things in my mouth that are not originated from the heart of God. proverbs 18:7 states, "a fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to himself." that is why He is always saying, "get that out of your mouth!" to us when we allow wrong things to enter there. He is not just being mean and not wanting us to have a fun time. He is concerned about how we could be affected if we keep allowing garbage into our mouths.

sometimes, we are just like josiah and ignore the promptings to not put things in our mouths that should not be there and sometimes we are like jacob and get rid of whatever it is then quickly pick something else just as dangerous and put it in our mouth. if we would just realize the dangerous place that our mouth can be and look
to Him to fill it with Truth that will bring us life, He will. Psalm 81:10 says, "I am the Lord, your God...open your mouth wide and I will fill it." He fills our mouths with the things that are good for us and bring us life. thank you Lord that You never give up on us and let us die from our own persistent, independent ways. thank you that you do not just command us to quit doing something but you fulfill your command in and through us as we look to you to do so. thank you Lord!