Snow treasures - Communication, continued

Today's treasure is the next two verses in our passage.....the writer switches from talking about ornamental things like jewelry to talking about weather. (Grin)

Here are verses thirteen and fourteen:

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time    is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him;    he refreshes the spirit of his master. Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given. (Proverbs 25:13-14) 

Cool drinks were refreshing to the wealthy and the high-born in the ancient Middle East. Only they could afford one of the various ways of obtaining (or making) ice. Come on, you may be saying, they didn't have refrigerators or freezers!
Yup, I know that.
But there were mountains.
And there were winters.
And there were ingenious and creative people.
Let me explain....
In ancient times, there was not a horse-drawn wagon going up streets and down, with a burly man with ice tongs, stopping at each house to inquire if the "icebox" needed a nice big block of ice to keep the food from spoiling and keep the tea cold, etc. (Grin)
But that didn't stop people....One could (if one had servants or a great deal of money to hire people) send people to the tippy tops of the high mountains where there was snow almost all year round. They could harvest snow or chunks of ice, and insulate it in straw and bring it down. Of course, a lot of it would melt, but some would make it back - a precious commodity to be placed in an underground cavern or cellar packed with straw and meted out sparingly.
One could also harvest in the winter and try to make it last.... I don't imagine that worked so well.
Lastly, the ancient peoples were no dummies; they learned how to make their own ice! The Egyptians and the Arabs, both people groups living in the desert, were aware of just how cold it could get at night in the desert. They discovered that a thin layer of water could freeze in the night and be carefully collected in the early morning....many a sheik or Pharaoh enjoyed sipping a cool drink because of this early technology.

Changing gears, here, and considering the typical harvest time in the ancient Middle East.... typically in the heat of summer, the crops of wheat, barley, mullet, corn, and more were harvested by hand. The workers chopped at the crops with hand tools, gathered them up and then sifted or prepared them, all by hand. There was usually a threshing floor with a bit of shade, but they didn't spend much time there. The sun beating down on them, the heat, the dirt, the bits of stalks and the dust of the chaff, oh, how hot and dusty and dirty they were!
Now the metaphor of "a snow cooled drink at harvest time" makes sense, right? (Grin)

So, how does this fit into our study of communication? Well-chosen words? Appropriate timing?
It's because of the description of the speaker: a faithful messenger. To be a competent communicator of messages, the messenger must not allow his message to be garbled or misunderstood. Our words must not only be well-chosen, they must also be unerringly truthful. In this day of politically correct speech, and easily hurt feelings, it may be extremely difficult (and uncomfortable) to be truthful. But a faithful messenger will relay precisely the message that she is given. In ancient times, the person who had sent the message would receive the news that the correct message got through would be so happy! Just as refreshed as if they discovered or drank some wonderful chilled water in the heat of harvest time! One has to wonder when reading some other proverbs, if Solomon was thinking of times he'd sent a message and the messenger had not been faithful....check out Proverbs 10:26 and also 26:6 and see what you think!

So, let's think about it: in this day of "spin" and political correctness, can we be relied upon to be truthful? Will we represent truthfully the happenings of a meeting? Will we convey all of the details of a document we are asked about? When we are asked about what a person said or did, will we tell the details without embellishment?

The Lord detests lying lips,    but he delights in people who are trustworthy. (Proverbs 12:22)

These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; (Zechariah 8:16)

How can we apply this to our own lives? Have we not been given the responsibility of being faithful messengers?
A friend who delivers an accurate message is a blessing to her friend; as refreshing as a cool drink in the heat of summer. A congregation member who delivers a message to her pastor is a blessing, as well. An employee who speaks accurately and trustworthily to her boss is a blessing, too.
Hey, I wonder if that is how our Lord feels when we (His messengers) deliver His Word with reasonable accuracy?
It's something to think about!

 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  (II Timothy 2:15)