Choice Morsels

Proverbs 18:8
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.

"You are what you eat." Sound familiar? Or, how about, "garbage in, garbage out"? Well, that’s pretty much what this verse is reminding us of.

When we look at the root Hebrew word for "choice morsels," laham, we find that its definition is actually, "to gulp, swallow greedily." And really, isn’t that what we do with choice morsels? We gulp them down, often not even stopping when we are beyond full! But in this case, we are talking about the words of a gossip - someone we shouldn’t be listening to in the first place - something we should have no appetite for.

However, truth-be-told, we are all drawn to gossip, aren’t we? We think it’s harmless, or else we camouflage it as a prayer request. We just eat that stuff up! But, is it really harmless? The KJV translation tells us that these words "go down into the innnermost parts of the belly." Now, the Hebrew word for "belly" is beten, which means, "belly, womb, body - as seat of mental faculties." In other words, these "choice morsels" go right to the root of our minds, feeding it, affecting the way we think, the way we act, the very foundation for all that we do. Boy, and we thought gossip only hurts those who were the subject of such words, didn’t we?

This is what it comes down to - we need to be wise, and very deliberate about what we feed our brains - garbage in, garbage out. If we want to live lives that reflect the glory of God, His goodness, truth, and love, then we need to be feeding our minds with such things that will get us going down that path. Be mindful of the books and magazines we read, the TV and movies we watch, and the "news" that we listen to, because it will all ultimately affect the way our body works.

Really, this starts with reading the Bible. I’m often asked if there are books I would recommend on any given subject or topic - my first answer is always the Bible. It has the answers to all of life’s difficulties, and really, if we are not being fed by the Bible, then books won’t do us much good either - they are simply man’s opinion of such truths found in the Word of God. If we are not in the Word on a consistent basis, allowing it to form the foundation of the seat of our mental faculties, then we shouldn’t even bother picking up some other book. Pick up the Word today and let it "go down to your inmost parts." See how it begins to rearrange your thoughts, your actions, your life. I think you’ll be delighted at what you discover!