I love summer camp. One of the reasons I love it, is the setting. Red Rock is in the Whiteshell Provincial Park and is beautiful just about every season of the year. I find having a quiet time with God each morning is enriched by the beauty of creation. Watching birds and animals has also provided me with many illustrations with a spiritual application.
This particular devotional is not from observing something in nature, but from reading a nursery rhyme called, The Wise Old Owl.
A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can’t we all be like that wise old bird?
James 1:19-20 says, 19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
I think James gives this warning because the tendency of our human nature is that we want to be heard more than we want to hear. Speaking too quickly, before we have actually heard the other person, can often cause hurt, anger or misunderstanding. So be more eager to listen, and less eager to speak.
As the writer of Proverbs 10:18-20 wrote, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
When you are tempted to speak before you listen, remember the wise old owl.
