‘A Tongue of Silver’
Miners, investors, and speculators have all shared an interest in this prized metal. It is rare, usable, and maintains its value in a volatile financial market, considered a safe-haven asset for any savvy investor. Beautiful when refined and used in art and jewelry, this noble metal’s malleability also makes it the best choice for industrial uses and electronic components. The added asset of photosensitivity gives this metal a vital role in film photography. Silver, cherished since ancient times, desired by royalty and monarchs, still remains a valuable and precious commodity today.
I am reminded of that value on a daily basis as I endure an unending barrage of silver-investment commercials spewing from my small, battery-operated radio (aka…my trusty kitchen-chore sidekick). Not a day passes that I am not encouraged to ‘diversify my portfolio’ and invest in silver as a protection in a financially unstable world. But on a recent journey through Proverbs chapter ten, one verse caused me much meditation and soul-searching on the subject of silver, dare I say changing my view of those boring silver investment ads, bringing them to life for me. In the midst of Solomon’s extended discussion comparing wise and foolish tongues, a small gem shines through: “The tongue of the just is as choice silver.” Choice silver. The imagery of rarity, usefulness, and value associated with that precious metal was applied by our wondrous Creator to human speech.
The reality is that in these troubled times, those who cross my path on a daily basis have a profound need for a heavenly, Spirit-filled wisdom that guides, an insight that imparts God’s grace to the hearers, and a truth that heals the heart and renews the spirit. God’s Word reminds me that the same tongue that can “minister grace to the hearer” can be “unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” How often do I allow my tongue to belittle, to crush, to discourage, rather than using that instrument to edify, to encourage, to lift up? Do those in my circle of friends and acquaintances behold “choice silver” in my words, or do they consider my speech of “little worth?”
As I pondered that silver-tongue quality, my mind was drawn immediately to the gentleness of my Savior. I thought of His encounter with “a woman taken in adultery,” a shameless sinner, a creature worthy to be stoned. I thought of the grace His speech exuded as His eyes met hers and as He exhorted her to “go, and sin no more.” No words of condemnation, no harshness, just choice silver, compassionate silver resulting in a changed life.
Choice silver: rare because there is not nearly enough of it in our angry, hateful world; useful, because it encourages and edifies, and of great value, because it imparts life-changing transformation. No man can tame that unruly tongue, only the Spirit of God can transform our foolish speech into choice silver. May I be as malleable as that metal, allowing the grace and love of my Savior to drip from every word I speak.
Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of he wicked is little worth.
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