Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
Open your mouth, and I will fill it…..that sounds like fairly easy instructions to follow, however a quick look around, and it is easy to see that easy instructions are not always easy to follow instructions! In this passage we are reminded How God brought His people out of Egypt. That was a huge task, a task only the LORD could pull off. Yet as soon as His people get out on their own, do they open their mouths wide, and bask in the blessings of the LORD? Nope! Most of them open their complaint line, and instead of thanking the LORD for their freedom, they moan, groan and complain, about what they don’t have. Fast forward, and we see God speak to the Prophets, here again, a few turn to the Lord, but most just open up the complaint department again. The Christ comes, many more people turn, but many more instead of opening their mouths for the blessings, only loosen their tongues, and complain through a mouth barely open enough to get the words out. As usual we typically get in the way of ourselves.
What if I were to tell you that I would stuff your mouth with thousand dollar bills, as much as you could hold, so you would have to open wide. How wide so you think your mouth would be? I know I would be trying to unhinge it just to get a few more in there! I am sure that most would agree with that idea! I mean come on, we are talking about thousand dollar bills! Do you think you would stop and think about how dirty that money would be? There is no telling where those bills have been, in the trash, under plates, maybe on the floor of a crack house or two. There is filth covering them, yet we would all be in line begging to be loaded up!
Yet here we have God, telling us, “open wide your mouth, and I will fill it” there is no dirt, no filth, yet when it comes time to open our mouths, we only open wide enough to get the spoon in! We look like children taking that nasty pink anti biotic ! We know we need it, we know it will help, but for some reason we only complain. I have to believe it has to do with the way we have been trained. The world does not care much for compassion, it does not care much about forgiveness, and the world is always running short on love. We are taught that these things are only for those that are closest to us. It is that wrong-headed thinking that keeps our mouths shut when we stand before the LORD. You see, if we are to have ourselves filled with what God has to offer, we must break this worldly cycle of me first. God tells us to open our mouths, and He will fill it, and He does. HE fills it with Hope, Peace, Love, Forgiveness, Compassion, and Strength. It is out of these things that the success you are searching for will come, and it is because of these things that the success you realize will last. It is with these things, that you will prepare in this life for the next.
The Lord is not an ATM, although to hear some Preachers talk today you might think so! He does reward, and He does bless, but the Lords blessings typically come in work clothes, and it will take some effort to be successful. Think of Christ. Talk about a work ethic! HE took the gifts that were given to Him by His Father, and He changed the world forever. If God was not willing to give His own Son a free pass, I am willing to bet that we will not get one either. The gift of salvation is free for the taking, but the successful opportunities will take some effort. Open wide your mouth, the King of kings is offering you as much blessing as you can hold, and then some.
God Bless,
Brian Thetford
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