Warnings

https://odb.org/MY/2021/08/26/heeding-the-warnings

One way to teach children who are growing up is to incorporate warnings. Of course as wise parents we try to remove all threats like dangerous objects or things that may be swallowed when they are much younger and yet warnings are inevitable as we cannot be with them all the time. So we will tell our kids not to cross the road without an adult or to follow strangers or accept sweets from people they don’t know or follow people into cars.

Jesus in Matthew 10 in commissioning the 12 disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God is here to the Jews then (not to the Samaritans or Gentiles at that point) also incorporated a warning – He will acknowledge before the Father those who acknowledge Him before others and disown before the Father those who disown Him before others.

Which brings me to the question of the day – do we warn others of the consequences of not believing in Jesus when we reach out with the Gospel? We usually emphasise eternal life in the salvation message as well as God’s grace and love for reaching out to humans by sending His only Son to the world to die for our sins and to defeat death. But there is also a warning – if we reject Christ, the path is to eternal damnation at the place called hell where there will constant gnashing of teeth and most pertinently, we will lose forever our link and access to the creator of heaven and earth.

Corollary to that, God in His love also warns us personally as His beloved children whether when He speaks to us during our quiet time or through our reading of His Word or when we hear the message on Sunday or through the wonders of nature or through our family and friends or even through this Daily Bread devotional readings. Heed the warnings whenever we hear them. If God takes the trouble to warn us, we must take the trouble to heed – at least out of our love, respect and appreciation of God’s work in our lives.