Turn On The Furnace

Jack Frost touched his fingers to the windows of my car for the first time this morning. Now I face the daily task of scraping away the frost. For the next five months the life will be zapped out of everything. The trees will shed their leaves, the grass, plants and flowers will no longer put forth their joyful colors. Except for the brave lovers of winter sports we will hover in the house where the furnace has been turned on to avoid the nip of winter's cold.

As I thought about the frost and its affect on the living world I was reminded about the wintry affect that frosty words can have on relationships. Words are not so easily scrapped off as frost from a window. They can rob the life of a relationship just as quickly as winter kills off the grass and plants but without the promise of spring a few months later.

We can, however, force that winter away by choosing words of care and kindness. A Japanese proverb says, "One kind word can warm three winter months." Our properly chosen words can be like the furnace that protects from the bitter temperatures and winds of winter. Proverbs 15:23 says, "A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!" Let us turn on the furnace of good words that will warm our relationships with those around us.