"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." Proverbs 25:11 ESV

The movie "The Cider House Rules" (1999) had a great scene in which a note pinned to the wall of a bunk house leaves a group of apple harvest workers mystified as to its message. Not because the message is too complex, it is simply because none of them can read well enough to understand its meaning.

A very timely principal character emerges to read the note for them and its message about the rules for the migrant workers, and it was quite different from what they had imagined. Had the character not acted as a teacher to help them understand the true message, they would have gone on assuming the worst had been written by their white employer.

It took a heart for helping others for that timely character to have revealed that to them, just as it takes a special heart to teach the Scriptures to another who seriously inquires of such.

Like those"Apples of Gold" from Proverbs 25:11 ESV, the fitly spoken words of a bible teacher given to the serious student are the essential building blocks of the foundation for further understanding, and that underlay that student's ultimate ability to share the Gospel themselves.

Like the lengthwise threads (warp) and the crosswise threads (woof) that form any woven material, the teachers and students of Scripture make up yet another foundation, and that is one that bridges the generations with the sharing of the Gospel.

The Body of Christ always benefits from even the smallest of efforts to speak upon or to teach the Scriptures, but it benefits greatly when both these aspects are done well.

Rik Charbonneaux is a retired NE Iowan who loves all of God's Word and all of His creatures.