Warning Signs

Daniel 4:2 It has seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.

Some years ago I saw a news report of a woman and her children who drowned in a flood. The report said there was no flood gauge and she drove into the water without knowing the depth. Her car was lifted up and swept away and they all died.

The water was the warning. Her judgment failed her.

The opening passage was a good news message about being shown favor in the sight of God. Many of us have witnessed the goodness of the Lord in our lives because unlike the woman above, we heeded the warning signs and used sound judgment.

I cannot tell what happened to others that was a sign of danger. We all have different stories but they all have the same ending. The common denominator for each and every one of them can be found in one simple idea. “This is the wrong path.”

Whatever choices we made, our mistakes, no matter how diverse, were not leading us to safe ground. Many of the stories I have heard over the years have had a similar singular moment that sounded the same, even though the words were different.

Exodus 3:3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

In each and every story there was something that caused us to put aside what we were doing to investigate something different and too curious for us to ignore. It is something I like to call our burning bush moment.

It does not have to be as wondrous as a bush that is not consumed by fire, it could be something as simple as water on the road. What matters is that moment we stop and take stock of the choices we have made that got us there to discover we are on the wrong path.

For a few of us it seemed easy, we heard “Follow me.” It doesn’t happen that way for everyone. The guilt and shame of our past can cause us to see no clear path. My only advice to those caught in a cloud of doubt is to stop looking around and look up.

The Potter

Jeremiah 18 English Standard Version

The Potter and the Clay

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 

11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

12 “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

There is a lesson to be learned here but I shall not teach it. May the Word of the Lord do what it does best, speak for Him.

Having said this, I will return to my reading.

Daily Christian Devotionals