A Beautiful and Lasting Picture!

​This morning a familiar scripture came to mind, but as I reference it, I selected a translation I don’t usually use:

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold inscribed with silver. Proverbs 25:11 (Jubilee)

What a lovely picture – golden apples, inscribed with silver! Yet, there is more here than a pretty picture. Gold and silver are two of the most enduring metals in the earth. Though they are able to be shaped and molded under extreme heat and pressure, when set, they can last beyond lifetimes. 

The same is true of "a word fitly spoken". Though it may mean different things in the ears of different people, when that word flows forth in truth, it has an enduring place in the hearts of those who can receive it. Truth has a beauty, but truth also endures. 

In our current cultural displays, it would seem as if there were no truth. It would seem as if everything is subject to the relevancy of its’ time or situation – this is called situational ethics.  Yet, truth does not change with situations, no more than a quality piece of art loses its’ value when it has been rendered a classic.

May we always speak, fit words – words of truth, words that bring beauty, words that will endure.

Maria