Sometimes I wonder why people ignore warnings! Warnings have a purpose! Warnings are there for our well-being and safety! Warnings are there to save us from a premature death! So why do people flagrantly disregard warnings? If we are honest with ourselves we have all done this at some stage in our lives. More often than we would like to admit we think we are safe from danger and convince ourselves that certain warnings do not apply to us. We seem to think we are immune from such danger and its consequences. Sadly, statistics tell us otherwise. Sadly, lives have been lost due to ignorance, pride and indifference. People see and hear the warnings but chose to ignore them and therefore run the risk of calamity.
Today’s journey into Proverbs is a classic case where people choose to ignore the warning! No matter how loud the warning may be given; no matter how often the warning is displayed; no matter where the warnings are given, many choose to ignore it! Wisdom cries out! Wisdom presents itself to the multitudes! Wisdom longs for people to listen, take heed and act on the warnings that are given. But, alas, the masses choose to ignore the warnings. Most people mock and scoff at the warnings. Most people naively continue on in the pettiness of the choices of life they make. Yet when calamity strikes they are found floundering! They cannot cope! They suddenly realize that they are about to be swallowed up in the tragedies that have fallen on them.
All of a sudden when they find themselves in such a hopeless situation they cry out for help! But wisdom says that it is too late! They missed their opportunity! They chose to scoff and mock the warnings! They chose a lifestyle that went against the warnings being proclaimed! The warnings were given at every conceivable location and yet they closed their ears and eyes to the warnings. So wisdom responds to them with mockery! Wisdom says, “Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.” This is harsh counsel for those who refuse to accept God’s wisdom and that wisdom is the gift of His Son Jesus! May we be all challenged by wisdom’s rallying call from the reading of Proverbs today!
Let Us Not Forget the Five Purposes of the Book of Proverbs –
• For attaining wisdom and discipline
• For understanding words of insight
• For acquiring a disciplined and prudent (careful) life, doing what is just and right and fair
• For giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young
• For understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of life