Warning Labels
Warning Labels
“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.”
Exodus 20:18-21
The other day I was drinking a bottle of water. I don’t normally read labels, especially on a bottle of water. I mean, there isn’t a list of ingredients, it’s water. There are no calories or nutritional value. And I would think there wouldn’t be any warnings, but there was.
On the back of the bottle, in extremely small print, it read - Warning, the cap can cause a choking hazard, especially in children. Most adults, let alone children, will never read this warning. At fifty three years of age I stumbled across this warning out of sheer boredom. Somewhere, someone choked on a water bottle cap. That’s because someone somewhere put the cap from said water bottle, in their mouth. I suppose you could also choke on the label or the entire bottle.
Have you ever wondered why the biggest, most important, warnings are on the smallest labels? Of course I have, especially when my eyesight has gotten worse over the years. I spent minutes searching for my reading glasses for something I need to take right now.
Medications, chemicals, foods and even plastic bottles contain warning labels. Their cautionary statements are printed extremely small and not in any conspicuous locations. It’s less about warning and caution and more about liability and legality.
The warnings we are given on products are usually to protect a business from being sued. That’s the reality of it. Once they print and affix the label to the product, they can officially say - we’ve been warned. I mean honestly, to be truly effective, shouldn’t we have to sign a waiver before purchase?
Warnings on a bleach bottle tell us not to drink it. Caution at the gas pump tells us not to have an open flame near it. And a caution label on a drinking water bottle tells us that the cap could pose a choking hazard. All of these are there - because all of those things have probably happened. It’s always reactive to action. But how many of us truly read the labels? The label doesn’t stop bad decisions, it only helps to minimize liability.
We were given the Ten Commandments directly from God because we were already sinners who weren’t figuring it out on our own. We didn’t have the capacity for moral and just living. It wasn’t preemptive, it was reactive. God had already wiped the entire population from the earth once with a great flood because we just weren’t getting it. And He had already given specific, personal instruction on what not-to-do. And we ignored it.
We are given just over six hundred laws to obey in the Old Testament to help us live morally just. And in todays society, governments, laws, ordinances, rules and regulations are standards for a proper life. We are told how to behave, and yet, we continue to behave badly. We are given the consequences, yet we ignore and move on.
We are given every direction, warning, caution and notice to avoid screwing up. Mostly because someone already did. Most laws are the result of a previous bad decision. Policies and procedures have been written because of the actions of someone else. Directions for use are written because we can’t figure it out on our own. Rarely have we had the foresight to warn of something that hasn’t happened yet.
God is our creator. From the beginning He knew what was best for His creation. The commands from God were not suggestions, they were directions and warning labels.
It started in the Garden of Eden. We are given the rules for life and how to live it. Clearly and plainly written in scripture. The Old Testament outlined the beginning structure and standards and when we continually failed, a sacrifice was sent. The laws aren’t meant to be ignored. God is meant to be feared.
We shouldn’t murder. Or worship any other gods except God. We shouldn’t covet our neighbor or take the Lords name in vain. But we do. And there are consequences for breaking the rules. The warnings are clear, but we ignore them.
Our sin separates us from God and the penalty used to be death. Based on the sin we committed, we used to have to sacrifice something. Now sin, for the believer, has been forgiven by the death of Christ on the cross. We still have to obey, but even when we don’t, we can still come to God and ask for forgiveness and mercy. Believers are no longer separated from the Creator.
We can use this world to live and thrive and love, the way God intended. It is the desire of God that every person will come to know Him. That every knee will bow and that every mouth will confess the name of Jesus.
We still have warnings, cautions and directions for our daily living. They way we should live the life we have been gifted is so clearly written. Our label has been clearly printed in sixty six books that we hold and know as the Holy Bible. It is our instruction and direction for our lives.
And what happens when you don’t read the label? Ignorance is no excuse for not knowing. It just means we didn’t read it. However, reading means we are given the direction for proper living the way God wants us to live. And not living the way God intends, well that just means we are living for the world and ignoring God.
Every single problem in our lives is a result of us or someone else not reading the label that has been clearly printed for us.
Many of us will use medication, eat foods, apply chemicals - all without reading the warnings. We may read the directions but we just don’t heed the warnings. It’s interesting what we look at. We check expiration dates on food because we’ve probably gotten sick at one time or another. We don’t ignore warning lights on vehicles we depend on because they can leave us stranded. And it certainly doesn’t seem like a good idea to light a cigarette at a gas pump or use a cell phone in an airplane during take off. I mean, do we really need a warning light that our vehicle is about to run out of gas? So why don’t we read the single most important compilation of labels ever gathered? Seems silly to expect good fortune, smooth sailing or things to just go right - when we aren’t even reading the labels. And then we question all the things that happen, because we lacked the wherewithal to be in The Book.
Guidance has been given to us on how to live properly - now and forever. Not only are we given specific instruction for our lives, we are warned what will happen when we don’t live as we should. It’s clearly laid out for us.
Yet, just like our day to day lives, we ignore the labels. The directions, warnings and instructions become blurred and our Bibles remain unopened.
I know people who go days, weeks and even months without ever opening their Bibles. I was that person.
All it takes is one day to make another. Start today, start small, start somewhere. Open your Bible and read about Gods love for us. See how Jesus came to die for our sins. Learn what a life of living for God can look like.
It’s easy to see the big things in life, but more important is that we don’t miss the small things.
“He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water. Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse. And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. Now when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord. Therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to him.” And he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. Then he went and found his corpse thrown on the road, and the donkey and the lion standing by the corpse. The lion had not eaten the corpse nor torn the donkey.”
I Kings 13:18-28