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You Know What I
Mean! A
few Sunday night’s ago while preaching a lesson I had trouble getting some
words to come out right. After a second try of rephrasing what I was trying to
say I gave up and just said, “You know what I mean!” Glenn found that funny
and used it one Sunday morning during Bible Class to make a point. I think all
of us have times when we get tongue tied or as one person said “My tongue
covered up my eye teeth and I could not see what I was saying.” There are
times you may have said “You know what I mean” your self. Parents
have said this to their children. Children are masters of conniving and finding
loopholes in what their parents say. You tell your children to mow the yard, but
they will find a way to redefine the word “yard” or point out that you did
not say when to mow the yard. In which case, they argue that they are simply
following the letter of the law. Technically they may be right, but they are
ignoring the intention of the law, in order to not obey the law. This is not
new. The scribes and Pharisees were great at redefining words and simply
nitpicking the law to death. The question of “who is my neighbor?” (Luke
10.29) was asked because the Law said to love your neighbor, Luke 10.27. One way
to get around loving our neighbor is to define the word “neighbor” so as to
suit my taste and not God’s. In Matthew 23 Jesus said they were stressing the
minor parts of the law, but leaving undone the very basis of the law; justice,
mercy, and faith, Matthew 23. We need to not try and find loopholes or ways to
get around God’s Law. I am afraid on the Day of Judgment God will say “You
knew what I meant” and your excuses will not keep you from eternal punishment.
We will be judged by the law and not our loopholes. “He who rejects Me, and
does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the
word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day, (John On
the other hand, there are times we may have trouble saying something. Either we
don’t know exactly what to say or can not find the right words. At funerals we
often want to express our sympathy to the grieving family and find it hard to
come up with the right words. However, they most likely know what you are trying
to say. In expressing your love to your children or spouse you may say something
that can be taken in two ways, but they know what you mean. One time I went to We
should not use the phrase “You know what I mean” as an excuse to not think
or what we are saying or how we are saying something. But there are times it
works to get across an idea, if you know what I mean. – Dennis Tucker |