Sermon Central
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Flares Are Going Off...will You Still Crash
Contributed by Joshua Bowers on Oct 15, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: As we go through life we can avoid a lot of pain if we will just be a little quieter and listen to the warnings God gives us
Flares are going off. Will you still crash?
I don’t know if you have noticed or not but we live in a society who ignores warning. Men, how many of you have ignored that little sticker on your step ladder and stood above that crucial step like you weren’t supposed to? Ladies, how many of you have, against all warning, tried putting your make up on while driving down the road? How many of you heathens have tempted time in prison and removed that little tag off your pillows? How many of you parents had children who, despite your warning of the stove’s heat, touched the burner? While driving down the road you pass a very unlucky skunk and someone yells out “sheuuuuu, that staaanks,” What is the very first thing everyone else in the car does…. SNNNIIIIIIIIIIIFF, and then as if it weren’t obvious they in some form of words let you know “YUP,you were right.”
It is, for some reason, a trait of mankind throughout history to blatantly ignore warnings and thusly wind up in utter disaster. The irony comes when during the disaster the failed person exasperates, “How did I ever get here?” What we fail to open our eyes to is the stack of warnings we received that, if followed, would have prevented this mucky mess.
In pondering this quirk of human nature I am reminded about a man named Jake. It’s been a while but the disaster felt in the story of him and his brother can still be seen today even though we have crossed thousands of years of history. You can read this story for your self in full back in the 25th chapter of Geneses but for now I’ll just give you my version.
Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, found herself to be very, very pregnant. Her’s was a very difficult pregnancy because her unborn twin sons were duking it out in the womb. Rebekah’s pastor even told her that she had two nations that were batteling in there for seniority. They never were going to really get along, in fact they would one day part ways for good but the older one would serve the younger one. Then struggle between them was so intense that when they were finally born the younger one had a death grip on his older brother’s ankle as they came out. Please don’t laugh to much at the mental picture in your head.
Life went on with these brothers and Jake, the little brother kept trying to one-up Esau, the older brother. One day Jake pulled a real stinker. You see Esau was a great hunter but for some reason he was lazy for a while and became hungry but had no food. Jake on the other hand was making a wonderful pot of stew out where Esau would smell it as he walked by. This stew smelled so good to Esau that he allowed Jake to trick him and trade his entire birthright for this pot of stew. Now you have to realize the first born was given the birthright which was the father’s wealth. No small thing.
Notice how Esau is remembered.
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.
We look at this and say, how could this happen? Esau made one bad choice that seemed minor at the time but it ruined his entire future. We can easily and do often make the same kind of mistake.
Do you remember the Titanic.
-The greatest ocean liner ever to see the face of the earth.
-fastest
-unsinkable
-fanciest
-Warned
-signals from another ship sent warnings of ice-bergs ahead
-disaster
-Cocky
-Sank
-+1500 people dead
We look back and we say, “how could this happen?” The problem is they were no worse than you or I are. How often do we receive the warning saying “DANGER, DANGER” but we don’t pay any attention to it.
-A wise person listens to the warnings God puts in his heart.
If we would stop trying to outtalk God we would be able to hear His warning. We need to get back to the point were we listen to that gut feeling. That Gut feeling is far more than evidence of eating green meat. It is a natural response placed in us by God, our Creator, so that we can help in making good decisions. It is called a conscience and if you listen to it a little you can steer clear of approaching ice-bergs. If you ignore it long enough, though, it will stop warning. Some of us need to ask God to help us restart it.
