"Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." (James 1:19-20)
I came across this snapper turtle sunning himself on a ledge. I thought for sure when I approached him he would scamper off and over the edge back into the water, but he did not. He moved along so slowly, allowing me ample time to grab a few photos of him. When you see a turtle you automatically think of "slow."
The more I thought about this turtle and how slow he was moving, I thought about this scripture and how aptly this creature applies to the way we should be. We should heed the advice and be swift to hear, willing to learn the wisdom of others that have gone before us. We should be slow to speak, learn to hold our tongue, practice restraint, and above all, be slow to wrath, refraining from our angry outbursts, our lashing out at others. The damage that is done in those uncontroleld moments can cause scars for a life time. It is tough at times to hold our tongue, but we will be the wiser if we learn that valuable lesson early in life. We have all experienced those trying times, and we have all been sorry for acting in a way that was unbecoming to us, but once it happens, it's history. All we can do is go on and try harder next time. Afterall, we're not perfect.
Once again, good words to live by. I'm curious, did you know what a snapping turtle looked like? I don't think I could tell a box turtle from a snapping turtle or any other for that matter,.
Rick that scripture brought to mind two verses from Proverbs about the tongue:
Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
Proverbs 21:23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.
Great pic! I looove turtles, and I often think to that I should learn from them, and slow down a bit.
Reply to your comment on "I hate spiders" aaaaahhhh...... now i'll have trouble sleeping. Seriously, it happened to me once... a spider crawled on my hand while I was in bed (I saw it, and killed it). I slept on the couch that night lol.
ah...I have trouble with that slow to speak...need to listen more and better. Not hot tempered, just don't listen as well as I should--thanks for the reminder. Nice shot.
This is a very nice turtle -- it looks quite content to be slowly moving along. And soooooooo true about needing to be slow with our tongue; in a moment of anger our tongue can cause deep hurt to others as well as to ourselves.
Proverbs 13:3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
Proverbs 21:23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.
Reply to your comment on "I hate spiders" aaaaahhhh...... now i'll have trouble sleeping. Seriously, it happened to me once... a spider crawled on my hand while I was in bed (I saw it, and killed it). I slept on the couch that night lol.
Nice shot :)
I also love this turtle! I like the editing you added to it! beautiful capture! :D
I teach 3rd grade.