Onions Stink -- Cindy Sproles

- Listen to Onions Stink - by Cindy Sproles

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." – Psalm 19:14

My cooking skills are adequate. I’m certainly no Paula Dean, but I was raised a country gal, so I can bake biscuits, make gravy and wilt lettuce. One of the staples in my kitchen are onions—all sorts of onions. They add a wonderful flavor when they’re sautéed and added to a stew.

But when I picked a few onions at the grocery store, I grabbed a Bermuda onion instead of a sweet onion. I shoved the knife’s serrated blade deep into the flesh of the vegetable. Woowee. A stench filled my senses and my eyes began to poor tears. In seconds my kitchen reeked. I wrapped the onion in plastic wrap and then dropped it into a zip-lock bag. My hands stunk and nothing filtered the smell.

As I Febreezed my kitchen I came to the conclusion that as good as onions can be, they still stink. The right mix adds flavor but a teaspoon too much--and the dish is ruined.

My thoughts and words are the same way. In the right mix they encourage and admonish, help and teach—but raw and unbridled, they stink up the kitchen. The psalmist tells us that our words and the thoughts of our hearts should be pleasing to the Lord. There are times when I find it hard to control my words, much less my thoughts. Learning this skill requires practice and constant attention.

Two days and two bottles of Febreeze later, my kitchen still had the remains of the onion’s stench. That puppy was potent. My guess is, there won’t be any onions in heaven because God wouldn’t let his perfect kitchen stink—and we all know onions stink to high heaven.

Do you have trouble controlling your tongue? Do your thoughts take you to places you shouldn’t trod? Don’t let your words or thoughts be ruined by the smell of those who choose to be onions. Keep your thoughts and words pure and pleasing to the Father. God loves fresh air.

Lean toward the Master. He’ll strengthen your conscience, help you take control.

Christian Devotions

Cindy Sproles co-writes with
Eddie Jones in the popular
He Said, She Said devotions.
They are friends and co-founders
of ChristianDevotions.us.