I went for a walk yesterday.  That was not the amazing part, as I walk quite a bit.  The amazing part–are you ready for this?…I was without earbuds.   That’s right.  I was unplugged.  And that for me is extraordinary.  My typical walking companions include Albert Mohler and his podcast “The Briefing” or Justin Brierly and his podcast “Unbelievable”.  Or maybe John MacArthur and one of his sermons.  Or Marty Brennaman and the Cincinnati Reds baseball game.  But yesterday…silence.  And it was good.  The break from the noise was so stark.  We live in a world of words.  Lots of them.  Words sent and received.  Constantly.

And so Mark 15:5 stood out to me today:  “But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.”  It was the absence of words that amazed Pilate.  Jesus, being so supremely confident in His identity and mission, felt no need to defend Himself with words.  His silence screamed.

I want to greatly reduce the number of words in my life–words received and words delivered (Yes, I recognize the irony of writing about this in a blog with words).  My point is that the words of Jesus were so purposeful and measured.  Weighty.  Not careless.  I want my words to be like that.  I also want to experience more of the silence that I did yesterday.  Perhaps that sets the tone for delivering words that are more purposeful and measured.

What are three things you could do in your life to increase silence and decrease words?