One day some preachers were sitting together at lunch and the discussion turned to sermon preparation. Each minister shared his particular approach to this task. One said he spent the entire month of July preparing all of his sermons for an entire year. A second explained that Monday was his day to write his sermons, while a third said Wednesday served that purpose well for him. The last preacher confessed that he didn't use any of these approaches. His method, he said with some embarrassment, was to assign a very long song just before the sermon.

I think I've heard some of those sermons; if you asked some of the members of the Magnolia church they would probably tell you I've preached a few of them! Seriously, though, it takes a lot of time and forethought to prepare good sermons. You can usually tell after about four or five minutes whether the preacher spent any time in preparation before he delivered the sermon.

But it's not only important to prepare before you speak when it come to sermons; it's also just as important to do that in daily conversation. How often have you or I spoken in haste and regretted it? Well, that's ample proof that the premise of this article is sound: "Think Before You Speak."

Here's Solomon's advice to all of us who have a tongue...

"Do not be rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few." - (Ecc. 5:2).

Today let your words be few and well thought out.

Lonnie Ritchie

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