"My wife purchased a birthday card containing these words from a paraphrase: “The Lord has rejoiced over you and has done such wonderful things for you” (Deut. 28:63 TLB). It was such a beautiful thought that she turned to the passage to read more.

She found that the words printed on the card were only part of one sentence in a section where God warned His people what would happen if they turned away from Him and disobeyed His commands. The entire verse reads, “Just as the Lord has rejoiced over you and has done such wonderful things for you and has multiplied you, so the Lord at that time will rejoice in destroying you; and you shall disappear from the land” (Deut. 28:63 TLB).

Now that would be an unusual birthday greeting!

The experience reminded me how easy it is to select pleasant phrases from the Bible while ignoring their context and meaning. Today’s passage is a warning from God to His people. It is worth pondering for what it is—an expression of certainty as firm in the spiritual realm as the law of gravity in the physical realm.

The Bible contains words of encouragement as well as words of warning. It’s important to appreciate both for their instruction in our walk with Christ." Our Daily Bread —David C. McCasland

So, Lord, what word of warning do You have for me today?

2 Kings 17:15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.

"Take warning, O Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you
and make your land desolate
so no one can live in it."

This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"Let them glean the remnant of Israel
as thoroughly as a vine;
pass your hand over the branches again,
like one gathering grapes."

To whom can I speak and give warning?
Who will listen to me?
Their ears are closed
so they cannot hear.
The word of the LORD is offensive to them;
they find no pleasure in it." Jeremiah 6:8-10

"While Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms and peoples in the empire he ruled were fighting against Jerusalem and all its surrounding towns, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD : "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, 'This is what the LORD says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and handed over to him. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon." Jeremiah 34:1-3

"At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.

"Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself."" Ezekiel 3:16-21

"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us." 1 Thessalonians 3:6

"Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning. I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden." 1 Timothy 5:20-25

Father God, I have no idea what all these warnings have to do with me or with each other. Open my eyes to Your truth and make the words clear to my mind in time for whatever purpose You have for giving them to me. Whatever Your secret knowledge is regarding my family's future, I pray that You give us enough hints to follow You right to the place You have prepared for us. Close and open doors, give us discernment and guidance, and bless us so that we may glorify Your Name in all the earth. Thank you for these priceless nuggets of scripture, for the depths and heights of the exciting adventure of living for You, and for the trailmates You've placed in our lives.