You Better Watch Out
Have you ever noticed that warnings are often ignored? By law, there are warnings on tobacco products, yet the tobacco companies makes billions each year. There are warnings against drinking and driving, yet there are still about twenty thousand deaths on our nations highways attributed to this. Our government wants states to issue prohibitions about electronic devices being used while driving. But somehow, everyone knows that nothing is going to change. People will die, and the only people who care will be those who lost a loved one.
Why are warnings ignored? The only honest answer is found in one word: selfishness. It can't really be attributed to any other reason.
But let us spend a few moments talking about another kind of warning that we should be aware of, yet we see evidence that very few heed this warning. The warning is that which God has given us, so that we will not suffer eternal damnation. Like the other things mentioned above, this warning also goes unheeded for the most part. One possible reason is because there are not many people who have the courage to warn others.
In Ezekiel chapter three and also in Chapter thirty-three, we read about God's watchmen.
These are those who are commanded of God to warn people of the danger if they will not turn from their wicked ways. There is a burning hell, and people are going there. Yet if we will warn people, perhaps some can be saved from this terrible fate.
The watchman had one of the most important duties of any community. They were to be on the alert and watchful to sound an alarm, and prepare people for impending danger. The watchman found asleep at his post was severely punished, even up to death, because nothing would be more important than the safety of the citizens.
We as followers of Christ have been given the charge to be a watchman. To fail to warn people we know about their doom is no different than judging them unworthy to hear the gospel.
Who among us would not scream and holler if we saw a child playing with an electric socket, or running towards the busy street? Yet we idly sit by while souls are heading towards certain destruction. Try to think about a friend or loved one who is lost and in danger of hell. You would do them a great service to warn them of their destiny, and offer them hope of salvation. In the coming year, let us all determine to be the watchman God wants us to be.
By Carey Scott

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