Ignoring the Warning Signs

They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger. 2 Kings 17:10-11

Driving to work recently, I noticed that everyone else was driving awfully slowly, as if the roads were slippery. It hadn’t snowed though, and the roads looked fine. I went to accelerate to go around a vehicle and suddenly, I fishtailed, discovering why they were all driving so cautiously. If I’d have just observed the warning signs around me, I’d have avoided nearly causing an accident, but I had to find out for myself.

Unfortunately, I’m prone to do this in other areas of life. When I read about how addictive a drug is, it’s my nature to want to know. I’m never going to try methamphetamine, but when I read how addictive it is with just one use, I think, I bet that I could avoid being addicted. This, of course, is absurd. I’ve proven that I have a highly addictive nature and that I shouldn’t use any chemicals. Still, there’s a part of me that wants to ignore the warning signs because that won’t happen to me.

Those who ignore the warning signs usually pay the price. That’s the message of today’s passage, which tells of how Israel repeatedly worshipped false idols, despite seeing what God had done to all the nations around them who’d done the same. They saw what happened when God was provoked to anger, but they did it anyway, and they paid the price as God allowed them to be overthrown.

The wise man learns from other’s mistakes. The fool sees those mistakes and thinks, I can avoid the consequences. I can get away with it. Sin always catches up with us though, making us miserable and distancing us from God. God, meanwhile, wishes to save us from our self-inflicted misery. So, if we desire the life he wants for us, we’d do well to observe and avoid the mistakes of those around us. We are not special and we won’t get away with it.