Misplaced warnings?

Warnings. Have you noticed they are everywhere? 

I recently saw a Facebook post that stated, “My whole life I never read a warning label telling me to not eat laundry detergent or put glue in my hair. Somehow I just knew.”

I think the warning world went crazy when a customer spilled hot coffee on herself. I’m pretty sure “hot” coffee was what she ordered. Why blame the restaurant and start a “warning crazy” society?

But there are many warnings we shouldn’t ignore —  like the ‘check engine’ light on our vehicles. Or the fact that Jesus Christ says He is coming back to rapture His children out of this world. And every prophecy in the Bible has come to pass. 

Psalms 101 brings to life Kind David’s feelings about warnings. He had become glib about God and failed to heed God’s warnings 100%. David wanted to get the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem after it had been stolen by the Philistines. King David’s lack of paying attention to warnings cost Uzza his life. 

God had instructed the engineers of the ark to build it with special rings so a wooden pole could be inserted and men could carry it without having to touch the Holy object.

Instead, David thought his idea of an ox cart would be much faster and less of a hassle for the retrieval crew.

How many times do I try to take shortcuts that God didn’t intend, and it costs me?

My Bible Study teacher pointed out that God anoints men and women — not machines. He wants His presence to be carried in the hearts of men, not carted on the latest technology. God works through men and women. 

So have we allowed “machines” to take over our job of sharing the gospel? You know I love the technology of reading my Bible on my phone if I’m away from my “real” Bible. And I love sharing a Bible study with my best friend in another community. And I love getting to listen to our sons preach and sing in their services. But many people have let “staying at home” and watching on the computer or TV take the place of real “church” which means you interact with other people. When we come together in person we can encourage and love on each other. We share burdens and difficult times with our church family. God even put a verse in the Bible that states, “Forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together.” We are supposed to be together —  when possible. 

The enemy of God has used COVID to his advantage. COVID took over our technology and church services. The technology was a huge blessing at first. But then weak, anemic, sickly believers (who don’t study the Bible on their own) have bought into the lie that church at home in the pj’s is the same thing. 

Sept. 18 is National Return To Church Day. I hear the statement almost every Sunday, “I don’t know what I’d do without my church family.”  

Don’t give in to the fear of “maybe” catching COVID again. You can still spread out as much as you desire. Hug or not. Shake hands or not. Just get back to church —  in the building! And no worries —  God knows if you are not physically able to get to the service.

The next point King David learned was, “A good deed can be done in a wrong way.”  In Psalm 101, David vowed to never let that happen again. It cost a man his life. Children lost their father and a wife lost her husband. 

Maybe you’ve “misplaced” your desire to fellowship and learn more about God. You didn’t mean to — it just sort of happened.

My hubby of 48 years and I started date nights after our sons left home. We needed to reconnect and remember why we got married in the first place! (Three boys will keep you distracted!!!)

This past Friday night, I was downstairs at the church after teaching a piano lesson. I got the text he would be around to pick me up. I gathered my gear and was standing outside watching for him. I waited (in the sprinkles) and waited and waited. I finally opened the back end of my Terrain and started going through some stuff I needed to clean out. He still hadn’t come. I looked to the Heavens and asked God why he gave me such a slow husband. I tried not to be aggravated. Date nights are supposed to be fun. After 10 minutes or so (he had been in his office just 30 seconds away from me!) I began to worry. So I sent him a text. No response. He finally pulled up and had a sheepish grin on his face.

He had misplaced me. (His words) He drove home to pick me up and when the garage door went up and the Terrain wasn’t there, he realized he was trying to pick me up in the wrong location. 

He promises he hadn’t forgotten about me … just misplaced me. Maybe we do that to God, too. We know there is a God who died for us and loves us so much — unconditionally. But sometimes we just misplace God and our priorities.

Get back to the basics. Put God first in everything you do. I can promise you there isn’t one person in Heaven who regrets putting God first and having the best life possible on Earth. 

King David said, “I will sing of mercy and justice; To you, O Lord, I will sing praises. I will behave wisely in a perfect way,” Psalms 101:1.

My hubby said I had to add a PS. to this column. He bought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my birthday —  a day early so I could enjoy them longer. He sat them on the piano where I teach lessons. When I came in, I never saw them. I was busy with other things and my students hadn’t arrived yet. He finally came downstairs, realizing I hadn’t spotted them. So he says we are “even” now. Life is so much fun! Don’t misplace what’s important.