“God, the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent warning messages to them. Out of compassion for both his people and his Temple he wanted to give them every chance possible. But they wouldn’t listen; they poked fun at God’s messengers, despised the message itself, and in general treated the prophets like idiots.” (2 Chronicles 36:15-16 MSG)
The smoke alarm right outside our bedroom was chirping. We knew it wasn’t a fire; no, this was just the intermittent warning that the battery needed replacing. Of course it was the middle of the night. If we could have, we would have ignored the sounds, but we are sensitive sleepers. One of us would have to get up, find new batteries, put up the ladder, and change the batteries to make the darn thing stop its incessant beeps. I must confess, I have sometimes been tempted to disconnect all the smoke detectors in our home.
God sends us messages through many avenues. Out of compassion for His creation, He directs us through other humans, signs, and insights. However, warnings can be annoying and disruptive. Most of us would rather go about our lives as usual and ignore admonishments to change our routines. We prefer to listen to those who say what we want to hear, even if that means ignoring the truth. Thus, we are tempted to disconnect from the Source of directions and warnings. Disengaged from faith, we go back to being insensitive, oblivious--and headed for destruction.
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