On a recent Friday when I was having my morning devotion, I spent part of the time praying for my individual family members.  When it came to pray for my son-in-law Frank, I began to think of what he would face that day in his management role with a major international box company.  Having heard him speak at times of the stressful situations and individuals he deals with almost daily, I asked God to do three things in Frank’s life that day: to let his words and actions be reasoned, seasoned, and measured.

As I reflected further that morning on those three words, I realized that would be a good prayer to pray for myself and anyone else.  What did I mean by each of those qualifiers?

Reasoned:  The thought behind that request was that Frank would neither do nor say anything that day that had not been well-thought out ahead of time.  That nothing he did or said that day would be driven by pure emotion.  That nothing he did or said would be knee jerk or flying off the handle.  I was asking God to work in his life such that everything he did and said that day would be undergirded with logic and good sense, speaking and acting only after he had taken time to sort through facts and information and filter them through truth and reality.

  • Proverbs 25:11-12    – “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.  Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise reproof to a listening ear.” 

Seasoned:  Every word or deed that we speak or do is seasoned with something.  It may be seasoned with joy or happiness, discouragement, doubt, fear, contentment, anger, resentment, or a myriad of other seasonings.  I was asking God to work in Frank’s life such that when he spoke reasoned words of truth and reality that day, he would speak them seasoned with love.  Love is to truth what salt is to a French fry.  When not spread on too heavy, love makes truth easier to swallow.

  • Ephesians 4:15 – “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up into all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.”

Measured:  Anyone who has ever been around a construction project most likely has heard the wisdom “measure twice, cut once.”  That’s also good advice for our words and actions.  We need to measure our words and actions carefully before we do or say them.  By asking God to work in Frank’s life that day such that his thoughts and actions would be measured, I was asking that when he finally did speak or act he would have measured and weighed his words and actions carefully such that they would carry weight without crushing, stir action without demoralizing, and communicate without confusing.

  • Proverbs 10:19 – “Where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”

Ultimately what I’ve shared is the same counsel Solomon gave his son as recorded in Proverbs 4:23 when he said, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”  Interestingly the Hebrew language of the Old Testament did not have a word for “mind.”  “Heart” was used instead.  In that role, “heart” referred to matters of the will, and also to all matters related to the intellect – like thinking, reasoning, understanding, desire, inclinations, conscience, decision making, knowledge, moral character, focus and priority, attitudes, and memory.  No wonder Solomon says the heart is the wellspring of life – meaning that the heart is the source from which all of life springs. Our hearts and minds are the sources of all we say and do.

Because the heart and mind are the sources from which all of life springs, Solomon wisely counsels his son to “watch over your heart.”  “Watch” has two ideas behind it.  (1)  to guard and protect something in the same way a soldier guards a fortress, and (2) to tend to it like a shepherd would a flock of sheep – protecting it from harm, but also providing for it that which is good.

An effective way to know if we are guarding and tending to our minds is to see whether or not our words and actions are reasoned through the truth of God, seasoned with the love of God, and measured by the wisdom of God.  That’s my prayer for each of us today. Let’s be reasoned, seasoned, and measured in all we do and say.