Warning Signs

1 Corinthians 11:27-34

As an American, I’ve become very aware of warning signs and labels, and they seem to be everywhere.  Have you noticed in some fast food places they warn us that fries and burgers could be a source of cholesterol, and the people who oversee the food industry are warning us to read labels to see what ingredients the food contains?  What about road signs, they tell us how fast to drive, when to show caution and when to stop, but have you noticed when driving in the Texas hill country, we have signs that tell us the curve or hill will block our view?  All medicine must be labeled and it is a wise person that examines with caution before taking it, for often the drug can do more harm than the symptoms one has.

Yes, life is full of caution and warning signs, but many a person has never been taught there is danger in studying or even reading the Bible.  Now do not misunderstand what is being said, studying the Scripture to gain instruction in righteousness with the intent of doing it, that is a wise person.  In Matthew 7:24-27 we are given a very clear warning about a wise and foolish man.  In the gospel of John 8:31, Jesus turns the spotlight on abiding in His Word.  Every person who has followed Jesus must give thought to what Jesus’ brother James is telling us; James 1:22-25, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

When you take Communion, or as one who was brought up as a Baptist, you might call it the Lord’s Supper, has anyone ever told you it comes with a warning?  If not, shame on them for God is very serious about this covenant and it is my opinion that not giving this warning is like not telling someone the bridge is out.  The apostle Paul gives us a very clear warning in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves, truly we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”

No one in their right mind would ignore the sign “bridge is out,” and keep going and yet many who are in Christ act as if this Scripture is not speaking to them, and then blame God for not protecting them.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice