Idle Words

So we were all riding in the van the other day. I was talking to Jeff and telling what was surely a long story. I try not to even say, "To make a long story short..." because my family just rolls their eyes. I don't think I've ever told a short story in my life. I do try to shorthen now and then with, "blah, blah, blah". You know what I mean. It looks something like this:


"So then the doctor said to keep giving her fluids, blah, blah, blah, and if she felt better in the morning..."



Anyway, we're riding down the street and I don't even know what I was talking about but as a filler I said, "dat da dat da dah." Annie interupts (I didn't even know she was listening) and says, "No Mom, you mean "blah, blah, blah." Seriously. Jeff and I busted out laughing but I had a bit of a twinge. How often am I saying meaningless things? How much of what I say is just idle words? I remember years ago a friend describing someone and she said, "You know, she never speaks an idle word." Wow! Can you imagine if that was said of you? The dictionary says this about idle words:



i·dle /ˈaɪdl/ adjective, i·dler, i·dlest, verb i·dled, i·dling, noun
–adjective
1. not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.
2. not spent or filled with activity: idle hours.
3. not in use or operation; not kept busy: idle machinery.
4. habitually doing nothing or avoiding work; lazy.
5. of no real worth, importance, or significance: idle talk.
6. having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless: idle fears.
7. frivolous; vain: idle pleasures.
8. meaningless; senseless: idle threats.
9. futile; unavailing: idle rage.

What if I tried to never say another idle word? What would that look like? The Bible says so much about the tongue. I may not be saying something mean or vulgar but is it idle talk? Does it matter? Your tongue certainly reveals what's in you. I saw my dad do a demonstration for a group of students once. He had a large cup of water in his hand and he shook it. Of course when he shook it, water came out. He asked the students, "Why did water come out of the cup?" "Because you shook it," they answered. "No," he said, "water came out of the cup because there was water in the cup." When you get shaken, what comes out? Matthew 12:34 says, "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." It's what's in your heart that counts. Sin is a heart issue. It's how a man can commit adultery just by looking at a woman lustfully (Mt. 5:28)So what does it mean if I am full of idle words? Words of no real worth, importance, or significance? I feel the need to be quiet now. I'll leave you with that lest I start to sound like blah, blah, blah...