Most likely, you are wearing something that has a feature that originated in the 19th century. At first, it was known as the Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure, developed by Elias Howe in 1851. Then in 1893, Whitcomb Judson took Howe’s invention, made some adaptations, and called it the Clasp Locker. On this day in 1913, Gideon Sunback patented a product known as the Hookless Fastener, #2. He had used the other inventions as prototypes for his invention that had interlocking teeth, a slider mechanism, and increased durability.1 His device is still in use today.
Now, you are probably looking all over your clothes, asking, “Where is my Hookless Fastener, #2?” Well, that name disappeared in the 1920s thanks to B.F. Goodrich. We typically associate the Goodrich name with tires and rubber but there was a time when Goodrich made rubber boots. They applied Sunback’s creation to a new pair of boots that were called Zipper Boots. From then on, the zipper name stuck. What would we do without zippers?!?
Growing up, someone might tell you to “Zip it!” or “Zip your lip.” There was the universal sign to get kids to zip their lips as a teacher mimicked pulling the zipper tab from one end of the mouth to the other, then making the motion of taking a key to lock the zipper in place before putting the key in a pocket or throwing it away.
Do you suppose the Lord would ever tell us to “Zip it!” Well, in a way, He did with several Bible characters. Mark 1:40-44 says, “And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. (41) And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. (42) And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. (43) And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; (44) And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” Similar situations occurred throughout Jesus earthly ministry.
Mark 3:10-12 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. (11) And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. (12) And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
Mark 5:39-43 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. (40) And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. (41) And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. (42) And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. (43) And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.
Mark 7:32-36 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. (33) And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; (34) And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. (35) And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. (36) And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.
Zip it! Mums the word. These passages always puzzled me a bit and I wondered why Jesus would have told them to keep it quiet. At least part of the answer can be found in Mark 1:45. “But he [the cleansed leper] went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.”
While Jesus performed physical miracles, His ministry was about the miracle of salvation. There would be plenty of seekers who saw the miracles as a way to get healed quick, or they would flock just to “watch the show.” However, their hearts were not transformed by faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God who had come to take away the sins of the world. The crowds didn’t surrender to Him as their Savior and Lord. Jesus didn’t want a religious following. He wanted a following of true disciples.
It’s probably safe to say that most of the time, Jesus wants us to open our mouths and proclaim His name, giving Him glory. However, there may be those times when God says, 
“Zip it,” disallowing us from speaking. We may not understand why but we just need to be sensitive and obedient to His directives.
Allow the Lord to speak through you WHEN He wants; WHERE He wants; WHAT He wants. Colossians 4:3 reminds us, “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.”
1https://thehistoryofthe.com/the-history-of-the-zipper-how-a-simple-invention-changed-the-way-we-dress/
Images are taken from https://pixabay.com/, https://www.pexels.com/, or https://unsplash.com/images or created in Windows Copilot. According to the websites, they are Royalty Free and free to be used for our purposes.
