It’s Friday, yeah what a day to enjoy. Is it true that George Washington had wooden teeth. Well the answer is a simple, No. We know this for several reasons. 1) wood was never used in dentistry during this time period. 2) wood causes splinters to the gum and cheek not practical. 3) wood expands & contracts - when in the mouth expands moisture, when on the night stand dries out contracts (causing blisters). Actually Mr. Washington did have bad teeth, so he had several dentures made, first out of lead, which caused a bad after taste, then out of gold, but that was too soft and broke when he chewed anything too hard. Then he tried ivory, which was better in appearance, but was not formed to he very effective to chewing. Finally, a young dentist collected teeth from people who had died, he used ivory as the mouth piece and inserted human teeth into it, this became the most desirable solution in that day.
So much for teeth, thus came the term, true grit, our down in the mouth. ha ha, oh well I tried.
Our meditation for today is found in Prov. 20:11 “Even a child is
known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.”
This proverb has two conclusions:
1) The heart of a person is most
easily seen in his childhood.
Before they are able to cover
up their intentions. (Pure)
2) Patterns developed early in
life will influence the person
and his/her accomplishments
in the years to come.
(Righteous)
That is not to say that you can’t change the outcome of your life. For we have all met people who began their life with selfish intentions, but became selfless in their adult life.
James spoke of this inner character change that slowly seeps into our lives as we strive to surrender to the Spirit, then come into fellowship & communion with our Savior.
Then we begin to transform into the character honoring Him.
Listen to James 3:17 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.” Then he concludes in 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then to God.”
The challenge then is to seek fellowship with our Heavenly Father. He then will transform & renew our desires. The result will be that our deeds & desires will become pure & righteous.
We don’t need to become mature in order to experience these life changing principles, we need to only surrender our will to His
Loving desires for our lives & then He begins this process of change in our lives. With greater & greater intensity.
It is as Henry Blackaby says in his book “Experiencing God”. Beginning each day with the prayer, Oh Father, What are you doing? How can I join you?
So Go With God and He will so influence your life that you will begin to see life through His eyes. Then you will begin to respond to this viewpoint, and then others will also be influenced by the reflection of Christ in your life. “Let Him shine out today.”