The Experienced Captain of the Titanic was warned six separate times to slow down, change course and take the southern route because icebergs had been sighted. He ignored all six warnings because, after all, he was the captain and he thought his ship was unsinkable.
In a sense, we all captain our own vessel sailing through the sea of life. We alone make the decisions where to go and how fast to travel. All along the way, we pass warning signs and may hear foghorns where there is limited visibility. Do we heed the warnings or ignore them?
We may navigate cautiously and avert a possible disaster ,m– we can race heedlessly, going pell mell through our lives and suffer the consequences.
Warnings are important God gave us His book the Bible to warn us. Paul told the Romans– “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, [and our warning] that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope “
It is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Since God wants to save us, He gives warnings to help us stay on the right path. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. We read in Chronicles: “The LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people.” Did they listen? The next verse says, “But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.”
Let us hope we learn from their mistakes. Do we listen to the warnings God is sending us through His word and sometimes by our brethren? God does use mortal messengers today to warn as He did in time past. Do we scoff at them or listen?
As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ we each have two duties to perform, and we must perform them in acceptable ways. First we need to listen when we are warned, accepting the warning with an open mind. Second, we need to accept the responsibility to warn others, but in a humble manner reflecting our awareness that we have had to be “warned” by others in our past, and may need to be “warned” again. The attitude we have when we warn others should reflect the vast difference between an Ezekiel, who had a direct command from the living God, and our situation as “fellow servants,” doing our best to apply the Ezekiel principle in our lives.
God told Ezekiel, “Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.” If we do not pronounce the warning, it becomes our problem. If the warning falls on stubborn and deaf ears, it is the other’s problem.
On the receiving end, do we heed our brethren when they warn us? God described Israel’s problem to Jeremiah by saying their “ears were uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken.” To Ezekiel God said, “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”
Let us learn to listen, let us be willing to warn, let us show our love for God by trying to help each other avoid the dangers that lurk in our path as we steer toward the kingdom.
Let us say with David, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” and may we be like Paul and “warn every man and teach every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One