Avoiding Pitfalls "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished." Proverbs 27:12 In April 2013, the southbound side of I-77 near the North Carolina-Virginia border was closed for hours following a massive chain of accidents. Police later reported that eighteen different collisions involved ninety-six cars and trucks. The wrecks left three people dead and more than two dozen injured, many of them seriously. The cause of the accidents was people driving into a thick fog that descended over the Interstate that Sunday afternoon. A police spokesman said, “Visibility at the time this accident occurred was down to about one hundred feet or less.” As people continued to drive blindly forward, they could not see the danger that was just ahead until it was too late. Prudence reminds us to be on guard for danger—not just in the present but in the future as well. Because of the way our minds work, we often tend to discount what may happen in the future simply because it hasn’t happened yet. It’s a little like the old joke about the optimist who fell from the top of a large building. As he passed the 10th floor on his way down he said, “I’m okay so far!” That approach places us in a dangerous position because if we fail to foresee the danger, we are almost certain to find it. When the Bible talks about someone who is “simple” it means someone who has not received instruction. One of the purposes of Proverbs (and indeed all of Scripture) is to give us an education that equips us to live wisely. Paul told Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible offers us a guidebook that warns of dangers in the road ahead and tells us how to avoid them. We should carefully heed these warnings. Today’s Proverbs Precept: Do not suffer pain in the future because you failed to look ahead today. By Paul Chappell
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 00:17:30 +0000
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