James 3:11 KJV
[11] “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?”
I remember as a boy going with my dad to a spring on the side of the road in the town where we lived. We would take plastic jugs and fill them to the brim with clear, cold water. It tasted very pure and refreshing, especially on a hot summer day. The spring was always faithful to give us the same clear, cold water. Recently, I was driving through my hometown, and I stopped by the spring to see if anything had changed. I took a bottle and filled it up with water from the spring, and after taking a drink, my mind immediately went back to those childhood days. What a blessing to know that after thirty-five years, the spring had not changed.
There was only one kind of water that flowed from that spring, and it was sweet water. You could depend upon the spring to be consistent. Dear reader, how about the spring of your soul? What flows out of your fountain? You see, the fountain represents your mouth, and your mouth reveals what is hidden under the surface.
Whatever is on the inside is going to come out. What flows from us must be as consistent as the spring that I told you about. We cannot allow sweet things to flow from our lips one moment and bitter things the next. No fountain gives both; it is either sweet or bitter. Which is it that flows from you? Does the flow from your mouth offer sweet refreshment or bitter poison? We must allow the Word of God to purify our souls from within.
I’ve never seen a day when so many people are pouring bitter water on each other. God help us to speak words that nourish and strengthen those who hear them. We must be on constant alert against the bitter waters of this world. We must not allow those waters to become our words. Lord, help us to be consistent, clear, and cheerful in our speech!