Most people in a small town don’t drive badly, but the ones that do irritate me no end. Small-town drivers stop where there is no stop sign and run stop signs. They pass on the right, where there is pavement but only one lane, especially where someone is making a left-hand turn. They don’t signal or give any indication that they are going to turn, because they don’t decide till they get to the intersection whether they are going to turn or go right through it.
However, the rule has always been that we don’t call anyone stupid in my house, so I have to be very careful that I don’t use those words that are floating around in my mind while I am out driving with my grandson.
What words float to the surface of your mind when something irritating happens? When your “bucket” is kicked, what comes out? Just like a water bucket that the oldtimers used to carry water from the well, your heart is a depository. What are you putting in your heart, your “bucket?” Are you filling it with the Word of God, with songs of praise and worship of the Lord, with words of gratitude and thankfulness?
Or are you filling it with words of complaint and grumpiness? With feelings of irritation, stress, and aggravation? Do you go about your day grumbling about being mistreated and abused by your co-workers? Do you complain about the weather, the economy, the IRS and income taxes, the price of gas?
In Matthew 15:11, Jesus said, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man: but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Or are you filling it with words of complaint and grumpiness? With feelings of irritation, stress, and aggravation? Do you go about your day grumbling about being mistreated and abused by your co-workers? Do you complain about the weather, the economy, the IRS and income taxes, the price of gas?
In Matthew 15:11, Jesus said, “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man: but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Whatever your heart is full of will come out when somebody kicks your bucket.