Tuesday, 9/8/20 – Pressing on… Repeated Warnings…

Repeated Warnings…

Over the summer this year my wife and I revisited Quaco Head just off the Kenmore trail near Saint Martin’s New Brunswick. We followed the route down Lighthouse Road to the landmark Quaco Head Lighthouse. Though this current lighthouse was erected in 1966 it carries a history dating back to 1834. It is still operational producing a white flash every ten seconds.

I was intrigued by a strange object I discovered just out of first view beside the lighthouse. Its function however was shortly and dramatically made clear. A light fog had rolled in triggering its mechanisms and the three second blast it began to emit was deafening! It wasn’t until later that I noticed posted warning: “Caution! The foghorn could start automatically at any time. Please note that noise levels may cause hearing damage.”

The blasts repeated every thirty seconds and the fog grew ever denser. Although we were not ship captains, we responded in the same way. Eardrums rattling, we moved on and away…

That’s what warning indicators are for — to tell those nearby of danger… to urge them to steer clear. And Christ also leads us safely on through times of fog with warnings along the way. It is up to each one of us to heed them. Jesus underscored His teaching with the phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matt. 11:15; 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8; 14:35).

Throughout scripture our loving Creator urges us to heed His cautions:

“Oh, that my people would listen to me…” (Ps. 81:13)
“Today, if you hear his voice…” (Ps. 95:7; Heb. 3:7, 15)
“Incline your ear…” (Isa. 55:3)
“I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice…” (Rev. 3:20)

He is not out to destroy us, but to save us from destruction ahead… a destruction we cannot ourselves see because of sin’s fog – a fog which also clouds the view of our true destination. As Paul described: “Now we see only a dim likeness of things. It is as if we were seeing them in a foggy mirror.” (1 Cor. 13:12, NIRV)*

The sound of these warnings may hurt your ears, so do not linger where they sound nor steer closer to the destruction of which they warn! Navigate instead to Christ!

“My sheep hear my voice…” (John 10:27) He says, and this is true. If we do not, perhaps we have drowned Him out with other sounds. Steer away to a silent place and listen…

“…an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” (John 5:25)

More tomorrow…

*New International Reader’s Version.

To hear Pastor Andrew’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.