Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. Acts 20:31
This past week, I had to deal with the minor inconvenience of my cell phone malfunctioning and having to have it replaced. In one way it’s annoying and another comical in that we’ve gotten so accustomed to having a phone with us at all times. However, the lesson learned is this, I knew it was nearing failure and I failed to act. It had not been functioning properly. I had ignored the warning signs! Becky immediately contacted our cell service provider and they sent a replacement right away. It will not be the same minor issue if we ignore God’s warnings (2 Thess 1:8).
The Bible is filled with warnings: brevity of life, the coming judgement (Heb. 9:27), not to be deceived by false teachers (1 John 4:1-3), and the dangers of arrogance (Prov 16:18-19), just to name a few. Again, these are the warnings given for our soul’s salvation and not matters of this life.
We know the warnings are there. That is not the problem. We could list an untold number of times scripture cautions us. The question is, why do we ignore them? If we are so concerned with trivial matters of this life, why are we then not concerned with the essential matters of our eternal life?
Sometimes we ignore a warning because we don’t feel the gravity of not heeding it. We don’t feel as if it could be much of a problem. People often reject the gospel simply because they don’t understand how bad eternal punishment will be. Matthew 25:41 warns us, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Sadly, they simply scoff at scripture like this.
We fail to heed warnings because we don’t want to do what is necessary to deal with it. Since it’s just a warning and not affecting us right now, we wait for another or more convenient time to address the matter, a time which may never come (Acts 24:25).
As with all things we must make sure the things we heed are true. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Once that is established, let us be vigilant watchmen committed to the well being of others’ souls as well as our own (Ezekiel 3:17, 1 Tim 4:16).
By Jason Barger