And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’
“Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life” (Ezekiel 33:1-9).
My husband and I were married on July 7, 1985, so this year marked our 39th anniversary. In honor of the occasion, Steve and I took an overnight trip to Florence, Alabama, and the surrounding area. Since we only had two days, we decided to stay kind of close to home so we could spend most of our time doing things instead of being on the road. This allowed us to visit several sites along the way, starting in our own backyard in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Our first stop was the 60%-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial, which Steve had never seen. Then we went to the Elvis Presley Museum, which neither of us had ever been inside of, even though we have lived in this area our entire lives. After crossing into Alabama, we took a short drive to the Key Underwood Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard, where Mr. Underwood buried his faithful companion, Troop, in 1937, initiating a one-of-a-kind cemetery. We went to the Helen Keller Museum – well worth the trip on its own merits. We also did a couple of activities that had connections to our 39 years together, playing putt-putt golf and taking a short nature hike, both of which we have done at various times throughout our marriage. (I told Steve that I suppose the 39th anniversary must be the “History Anniversary” because everything we did had a historical bent.)
Another place we visited was the Wilson Dam on the Tennessee River. In 1933, this dam became the first one in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system. (Here we go again with the history theme.) Due to the July 4th holiday weekend, the dam’s Visitor Center was closed. However, we walked down to an overlook near the water, and as we stood there, a large TVA boat passed through the relatively narrow and rocky waterway beside us. I commented to Steve that it was a good thing the captain knew the passage so well because it looked like it would be very easy to wind up on the rocks lurking just below the surface. It wasn’t until we turned to leave that we noticed the sign behind us. Although it was fairly large, the red letters were partially obscured by trees.
WARNING: DANGEROUS WATERS
As I considered that sign, the water, the boat, the rocks, and our “history tour,” the elements all came together for me.
There are dangers all around us in this world, and there are warning signs for many of them. Some of those signs have been placed by human hands, like the ones that say “Wrong Way” on a one-way street. Others were placed into nature by God, such as the noisy tail on a rattlesnake or the red marking on a black widow spider.
Sometimes we miss those warning signs – maybe the choices we are making obscure our view of the looming disaster, or maybe someone else failed in their task to make the signs clear for us. And then again, maybe we see the signs of danger ahead, but we ignore them, thinking we can handle things ourselves and that the ones who set up the signs were just scared to take chances.
Detour with me for a moment …
This reminds me of the video I saw of a young friend of mine who, while on his senior trip, filmed himself riding on a single-person, self-braking alpine slide in Wyoming. Not far into the ride, my friend sees a warning sign that advises riders to “Slow” – meaning to apply the sled’s brakes. On the video, you hear him say, “Slow?! I didn’t hear it!” About 30 seconds later, he hits a sharp curve and completely wipes out, not only causing himself a bloody arm and knee but also literally burning a hole in his pants after his sled continued down the hill without him! Thankfully he survived without greater injury, he caught his sled, and no one else was near him to be harmed by his actions.
Back to the boat and the river …
I don’t know how long that boat captain had been traversing that stretch of water in that boat, so I don’t know if his navigational skills came from years of experience there or if he simply had a better view of that warning sign than Steve and I did. All I know is that he made the turn out of the deeper waters into what appeared to be potentially treacherous shoals, and he eventually passed out of our view without incident. Either he heeded the warning sign, he listened to the voices of others’ lessons learned, or he had a history of experience with that waterway – or all of the above. But I cannot fathom that he managed to pass through that water by chance or even through his own skill.
Here are a couple of things that come to mind:
- Warning signs are important. As Ezekiel recorded, God holds accountable those who do not warn others of impending danger. If we give warnings about the dangers God has revealed to us regarding current times or the warnings He placed in the Bible thousands of years ago, we have done what we were called to do. If others fail to listen or disregard what we say (and especially what the Bible says), then they have brought their destruction on themselves. But if we fail to issue the warning, God will hold us accountable for our dereliction of duty. And if we see the warning signs but refuse to heed them ourselves, we have no one else to blame.
- History is important. Whether it is filled with encouraging and uplifting experiences or evil activities and dark moments, history is a picture of where we have been. Remembering where we came from allows us to reflect on our mistakes so we will hopefully never repeat them. In God’s great mercy, He gave us the Bible so we could not only learn about Him finding salvation in Christ, but we can also see documentation of the victories and tragedies of those who came long before us so we might learn from their experiences as well.
Our future does not depend on whether we like the warning signs we see or whether we are proud of our history. Truth is not determined by our preferences or what we desire to be fact. However, what we do with the knowledge we have … well, that will have a direct bearing on what lies ahead. Be very careful that you are listening to the voices of truth and heeding their warnings. Otherwise, your life or those you love will not make it through the treacherous waters ahead.
