Matthew 18 and Psalm 91
“Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” – Matthew 18:18-20
Something I struggle with a lot is remembering to think before I speak. Please tell me I’m not the only one here! My brain starts the second I wake up and doesn’t seem to stop moving a mile a minute until I go to sleep at night… and when my brain is moving a mile a minute, so is my mouth, most days- I’ll be honest.
That’s precisely why the sentence in the middle of the above passage felt like it smacked me right in the forehead when I was reading these verses today. The sentence I’m talking about says, “What you say to one another is eternal.” Um, excuse me? If that’s not slightly terrifying, I don’t know what is. All those little quips I say when I’m tired… the thoughtless remarks that slip out every so often… the careless things I say when I’m hurt to the people I love most… those are ALL eternal. Yikes.
Reading those words today made me pause and remember that my words matter. Not only do they matter, but they actually don’t ever go away… because they’re eternal. But on the positive side of this fact, I’m also reminded that the encouragement I share with a stranger, the kind words I try to remember to share with my people throughout the week, the prayers I pray over my marriage, business and family… those words are eternal, too. Read the last verses of Matthew 18:18-20 with me:
When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.
“You can be sure that I’ll be there.” I love that. Let Matthew 18 be a reminder to you today that your words matter… and whether it’s the encouragement you knew the Lord was calling you to share or the hurtful comment that came out when you were having a tough day, those words never go away. To close, the first verses of Psalm 91 bring me some hope after being reminded that my words never go away. And I don’t know about you, but I definitely needed some hope after that reminder! The verses say,
You who sit down in the High God’s presence,
spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
Thank goodness that even though this life can be challenging and we often fall short, God is our refuge and our safe place. When we mess up and don’t use our words in the way that’s most honoring to Him, He’s still our refuge, and we can be sure that He’ll be there for us.