A man was walking the beach when he came across an old bottle. Out of curiosity he picked it up and gave it a wipe to clean it.  Suddenly in a cloud of smoke a genie appeared. And like all genies he offered the man three wishes.

“I want to be richer than Bill Gates” said the man, and POOF a pile of gold, diamonds and rubies appeared.

“Wow, I am a long ways from home with all this loot, I need transportation” he cried. And POOF a fancy sports car and trailer appeared.

“What is you third wish?” asked the genie. “And it can’t be a wish for more wishes, so make it count”.

The man thought, with all this money I can buy anything I could ever wanted, fancy clothes, good looks, great food, world travel…. I will be popular, powerful and admired.

“Genie, I decided to wait before making my last wish”. And with that tossed the bottle into the back seat of the car and drove off. The sun was shining, life was good. He was happy and as he drove back into the city began to sing with the radio. “Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener…POOF.    

As I read the story I couldn’t help but think: “What a Hot Dog”. He was cheesy and couldn’t cut the mustard. Now he is in a pickle and will never catch up. His wish was not kosher. I don’t relish his situation; it surely wasn’t Chicago Style. OK; I’ll stop before you grill me and get to the point.   

What a waste. He could have wished for world peace, a cure to cancer or the end of world hunger; but he wasted it being selfishness. In fact it was his lack of self control that got him into the situation. He would have been wise to follow the old adage “Think before you speak”. James 1 warns us of the danger of an unbridled tongue. He compares it to a small spark which can set an entire forest ablaze. Our words can edify or destroy; encourage or discourage. They can deeply wound others, and they can also hurt us and our reputation. The book of Proverbs warns us against rash words, gossip, lies, false flattery, and critical speech. Choose your words wisely. Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12: 18