CAUTION
I write this with a sense of profound importance and great concern. One of my greatest concerns is what I believe is a loss of love and a sense of importance to know the Word of God. First for my family and loved ones, but equally for everyone. We all need to hide God’s Word in our hearts. When David said in Psalms 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee,” he was saying if you do not have the Scripture in your life, you will sin against God. Paul warned in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” A sinful and deadly price results from not reading, studying, and hiding the Word in our hearts and minds. Ignorance as a defense for breaking the law did not start with man but with God. God said from the beginning concerning His law, “And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist (knew) it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 5:17).
Most reasonable people have and practice a practical sense of caution. If a person puts their hand on a hot surface, they will be burned. Parents warn their young children of this and other dangers from the child’s earliest movements. That warning is training and teaching caution. When we read in Psalms 91:11, “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways,” this does not give a person the rights to do anything he wants. That is not His meaning, for He also tells us in Matthew 4:7, “...Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Caution is life-saving and prevents countless tragedies.
There are also cautions needed in a person’s walk with God. Again, I refer back to hiding God’s Holy Word in our hearts. In the beginning, I spoke of my grave concern regarding what I believe to be true, a lack of giving careful attention to God’s inerrant Truth. It should awaken us that instead of reading and praying as a family in our homes, it is more likely several will have gone in different directions while others are watching television or playing on digital devices. Most of this is innocent, but it has separated us from talking to and hearing from the Lord. I fear to think of the immeasurable cost for this condition.
For some, the only redeeming factor, and that within itself is not nearly sufficient, is if they go to church they will hear at least a textual reference by the minister. If they are one to be inattentive because their mind strays to other thoughts and plans, what have they gained? The Scripture is given in Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” We could lose our children to this neglect. Hear the Word of the Lord and awaken to His command from Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. ”
Caution means “being attentive to possible danger” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Thank God for good and Godly parents who taught me the importance of caution, but I’m equally thankful for pastors and teachers that showed me the value of the greater and more eternal meaning of caution.
God help us all!