The Devotional

Papa J's rules for Livin #113

Can a man say that he has no sin? Think about it! It is much the same as a man saying; “I have an empty stomach” One bite of the egg and his stomach is no longer empty! One thought of self and the soul is less bright!

1 John 1:8

Did you know that certain men on submarines do not have to qualify as submarine sailors? Cooks, Storekeepers, the Corpsman and Yeoman are exempt from the qualifications program. This could amount to ten percent of the crew. However, the rest of the ship's crew sort of look down their nose at the people they brand as non-quals. Also, non-qualified people cannot participate in most of the military actions that take place on the war platform simply because they have no idea of what or when to take action. Now there is good reason that these men are not required to qualify. Our jobs demanded larger spans of time to complete, responsibilities of financial and fiscal operations, also medical and administrative things that required longer hours then those required by basic engineering and operational needs. I did not like the remarks of people who thought they were better than those who did not qualify. So I decided that this was not for me and I qualified. Determined to do my best, I became the person in charge of all the qualification boards on the ship. In other words, I was the chief qualifications officer and had the final say as to who was and was not qualified. The point! When you put your mind to work on any subject you can be successful and prideful. Is this good or bad?

James 3

James 3:1 James continues his conversation with us about faith and works. When we have faith, faith is to motivate us to do. We are to do what ever it is that this faith is directed at. I have faith that I can drive a car, therefore I drive the car. To be qualified as a person of Christ-like character, God has said in His word that one should control the tongue. We have faith to obey God's directive and we control the tongue. If I know what to do I can instruct others, but in the process of instructing I fail, then I am no longer a doer of this faith and a stricter judgment is imposed since I undo what I proclaim to be true.

The bit and bridle for the horse and the small rudder of a ship are examples of small inventions by man to control very large and difficult encounters with nature and wild life. God places the tongue in the mouth of humans to control their praise and worship for Him, Yet like the experience of my submarine qualifications I went a bit overboard and now seek to boast of great accomplishment. Most of us boast all day long, we brag on ourselves so much that it is like setting a forest on fire.

So then the tongue is a dangerous but needed instrument, with it we boast of selfish things and with it we brag on God. Out of the mouth of mankind there is blessing and cursing, continually. This is like having a drink of vinegar and drink of water and at the same time convincing your gut that you've done nothing wrong. We should have better control over the things we approve or disapprove and we should be careful that when we speak that we have our tongue under control.