Gracious Words

All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Luke 4:22

Everyone knows the value of a snack as an energy booster. Half an apple or a tangerine or a handful of grapes, all natural sources of sugar (carbohydrates), can be the fuel our internal engines need to allow us to shift into a higher gear when we feel tired. The ancients didn’t know the science, but they knew the value of “carbs” as a source of energy: Jonathan’s “countenance brightened” (1 Samuel 14:27) when he ate the honey from a honeycomb.

Did you know there is something else that can refresh a tired and weary soul as quickly as honey? Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” How many souls, even “bones,” are sick and downcast because it has been so long since they’ve heard a pleasant word? One of the reasons Jesus Christ was so loved was because of the “gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth” (Luke 4:22). People couldn’t believe that an ordinary person (“Joseph’s son”) could speak so graciously and with such a healing effect.

The next time you encounter a tired soul or sick body, speak some pleasant and gracious words. It may be just what the Doctor ordered.

Words, those precious cups of meaning . . .

ST. AUGUSTINE