Salt or Fresh Water

James 3:11 “Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?”

Lord, of course this cannot happen unless You cause it to with a miracle.  It cannot happen because James is speaking of the source from which the water flows.  There are places on earth where two rivers, one fresh and one salt, meet and flow together for a time.  However one “wins” over the other after a bit.  Each one of them had a different source.  A spring has but one source and comes from beneath the earth’s surface, a place protected and usually pure.

            Our words come from a source below the surface too.  They come from our heart, one source, not two that should be protected and pure.  If we have truly died with Christ, our sinful (salt) heart has been changed from “salt” to “fresh”, a miracle from God!  Fresh water nourishes the body and encourages growth.  (Now Jesus calls us to be salt and light and we are called the salt of the earth, but that is a different topic altogether we’ll deal with at another time.)  Our words should nourish the body and encourage growth as they spill out from us and should be an encouragement to unbelievers to bring them to Christ.  If we are controlled by the Spirit, our words should be godly words.

            Obviously, if our words are less than godly it should be a flag to have our “hearts” examined for some sort of “disease” by the Great Physician and then follow the regimen of confession and repentance He prescribes to regain our healthy heart.  Oh Lord, give me that heart that springs forth fresh and sweet water!