“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6).

How different words can be depending on the source! Joe often was very sarcastic in the way he spoke. His speech seldom was encouraging and often ranged from annoying to downright hurtful. Julie hated speaking in public. She often became almost physically ill when she would have to speak in a small group. The day came when she had to make the presentation to the departmental managers. She did a fine job, and many complimented her on the hard work, good preparation, and really fine presentation. Many, except–you guessed it, didn’t you? Good old sarcastic Joe. Walking up to her right after the presentation, he said with an arrogant tone, “Great job, coward. Man, I got to thinking that you were going to shake so hard the papers were going to fly all over the room. You gotta’ work on the shakes, lady. You’ve got more shakes than McDonalds! I started getting dizzy watching you.” With that Joe walked away. Later that night, Julie arrived at Psalm 12 in her Bible reading. Softly she said to the Lord, “I am grateful that your words are so different from the hurtful, sarcastic, proud and arrogant words of today.” Isn’t it wonderful that our awesome God is so perfect that even His words are pure! I need to work on my words. How about you?

For today: Be on guard to never become a Sarcastic Joe. Rejoice in the Lord’s pure Word.