Thought for the Day

Verse 3 - Prudence (the ability to make sound judgments), enables us to avoid Satanic entrapments. It develops as we grow in the knowledge of good and evil by daily walking with God and obeying the principles in His Word. Developing a sensitivity and instant obedience to God's voice is prudent, because God will warn us of evils that we have no way of knowing about apart from Him. Many Christians testify of having been saved from life-threatening situations because they heard a warning in their hearts from the Lord. The Bible is full of accounts of how the Lord preserved the lives of His children by warning them of danger. Even the life of Jesus, as a child, was saved when an angel of the Lord warned Joseph in a dream to flee Bethlehem (Matthew 2:13-14).

God warned Noah of the coming catastrophic flood, and told him how to build an ark and make provision for survival. God warned Lot and his family of the coming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and told them to flee. God warned a Pharaoh in Egypt, through a dream, to prepare for seven years of abundance that would be followed by seven years of famine in the days of Joseph. He warned the Israelites in Egypt that "the angel of death" would kill the first-born of every family and told them to place the blood of a lamb on the lintels and doorposts of their houses so that the destroyer would pass over them. God warned Nineveh of impending judgment through Jonah.

The Lord still warns individuals and nations today (through the Bible and His servants) to repent so that they will not be destroyed. When any nation's sins reach a certain level, judgment is inevitable if that nation does not repent. God does not desire to see any individual or nation destroyed by the fruit of their own sins. He even spared a heathen nation (the Amorites) for a while longer, until their cup of iniquity was full and He could no longer tolerate their sin. "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full" (Genesis 15:16).

Verse 4 - We can escape destruction and find riches, and honor by humbling ourselves before the Lord. He wants to bless us. The curses coming upon our nations are not from Him, but are the result of rejecting Him and idolizing such things as materialism, lust, and perversion (Jeremiah 2:19). It is never too late to seek the Lord. He is loving and forgiving, and yearns to bring us into a "Promised Land" of safety and blessing. He Himself paid the penalty of our sins for us.

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:6-10).