Warnings
The other day, for some reason, I began to notice the different things that give us warnings. Of course, there are the ones we see every day. Like the road signs. I think there are two different types of signs. Warning and information. Then, there are things that we don't often see, like flashing lights on top of high towers that give warnings. How about the police, fire trucks and emergency vehicles that sound their sirens and flash their lights? How about the person who is using a flag to give us warning? How about the traffic lights? How about unborn babies wanting to come into this world? They give their mothers a big warning. All of these things are things that give us warnings...
How often do we ignore warning signs in life and it costs us? I remember many years ago when I was in Bible school, I was going from Rock Island, Illinois to Denver, Colorado with a group of students to a General Convention. We had been traveling all day and into the night and now into the early morning hours, and it was my time to drive. I did real well until everyone in the car had gone to sleep. About 4:00 a.m. I began to fight sleep and then about 5:00 we came upon some road construction and there was a big sign that gave me a warning. But because of my sleepiness, my mind didn't catch on fast enough. I ran through a barricade and hit something steel that was being used on the construction site, blew out two tires and came to a very sudden stop. Can you believe it? Everyone in the car was now awake and so was I! Well, because I didn't pay attention to the signs, we were delayed about two hours and it cost the school two new wheels and tires.
In our every day routine we see signs that become so common to us that we fail to heed them and many times we find ourselves in trouble.
Well, let me get to the main point that I am trying to make.
The Bible is full of signs of the last days. Signs that we all have heard all our lives and they have become so common place to us that many times we ignore them. The Holy Spirit in us gives us warning, but because we are so busy, many times we don't heed them.
Quoting from I Thessalonians 5 as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message. "I don't think, friends, that I need to deal with the questions of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other--'We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!'--suddenly everything will fall apart. It's going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
"But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we're creatures of Day, let's act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation."
Pay attention to the signs!
How often do we ignore warning signs in life and it costs us? I remember many years ago when I was in Bible school, I was going from Rock Island, Illinois to Denver, Colorado with a group of students to a General Convention. We had been traveling all day and into the night and now into the early morning hours, and it was my time to drive. I did real well until everyone in the car had gone to sleep. About 4:00 a.m. I began to fight sleep and then about 5:00 we came upon some road construction and there was a big sign that gave me a warning. But because of my sleepiness, my mind didn't catch on fast enough. I ran through a barricade and hit something steel that was being used on the construction site, blew out two tires and came to a very sudden stop. Can you believe it? Everyone in the car was now awake and so was I! Well, because I didn't pay attention to the signs, we were delayed about two hours and it cost the school two new wheels and tires.
In our every day routine we see signs that become so common to us that we fail to heed them and many times we find ourselves in trouble.
Well, let me get to the main point that I am trying to make.
The Bible is full of signs of the last days. Signs that we all have heard all our lives and they have become so common place to us that many times we ignore them. The Holy Spirit in us gives us warning, but because we are so busy, many times we don't heed them.
Quoting from I Thessalonians 5 as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message. "I don't think, friends, that I need to deal with the questions of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master's coming can't be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody's walking around complacently, congratulating each other--'We've sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!'--suddenly everything will fall apart. It's going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.
"But friends, you're not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You're sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let's not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let's keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we're creatures of Day, let's act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation."
Pay attention to the signs!
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