Mondays Encouragement

He Opened Not His Mouth by Anthony Walker of Anthony's Desk

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth. Isaiah 53:7

At possibly the most difficult time in His life, Jesus didn't say anything. He did not complain about his struggles, his oppression, or his afflictions. He did not wish harm on his captors, or murmur hateful incendiary epithets about them. He opened not his mouth. Although he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, or as a sheep before its shearers, don't be dismayed by his sheeply appearance. He has the power, the valor, and majesty of a Lion.

The Teacher tells us in Ecclesiastes that there is a time to be silent and a time to speak. As we often do, we tend to get our times mixed up. Jesus wasn't just silent for quietness sake. He was silent because it was time to be silent. He was silent because He had said what needed to have been said. He was silent because His life spoke volumes and still speaks to us to day. We can learn a lesson or two from Jesus concerning the time to keep silent.

Sometimes when we are heavily tempted by the enemy we want to say all kinds of heinous things. However, the tongue is a fire. It is an unruly evil. We cannot tame it. But it doesn't mean that we can't keep it in its cage. Another lesson that we can gather: people believe half of what you say, but everything that you do. Jesus told the pharisees in Matthew 15 that they often spoke one thing and lived another. It should not be that way. Let our lives do most of the talking. Peter shared with wives in 1 Peter 3, that their unbelieving, disobedient husbands could be won, not by words, but by their conduct. What is your conduct talking about today? Are you winning souls for Jesus?

One commonality between man and fish... Both would stay out of trouble if they'd keep their mouth shut.