On the Warning Signs

Pay attention to the warning signs.

Okay, I will admit it. I am not a twenty or even thirty year old youth minister any more. I am in the middle of my third week of preaching youth camps and my body has told me to slow down. At first, I tried to ignore the “warning signs” that my body was sending. I would just work through the tiredness and fatigue. But I couldn’t ignore the warning signs forever. So I slowed down. I went inside when it got really hot. I tried to rest a bit between activities.

I caught myself wondering if I was paying attention to the warning signs that James has been giving me concerning so many thing about my life as a disciple. He has told me to rejoice in my trials because they make me stronger. He has told me to listen more than I talk and to be very careful with anger.

He has told me to be one who does what the Scripture says and not just a reader and a teacher. He has told me to be careful what I say, especially as it concerns others. He has told me to approach life, love and the community of faith with a measure of humility that does not come naturally.

It is easy to read, teach, preach or study without feeling like we personally need to pay attention to what we are telling everybody else. I appreciate the pain that forces us to pay attention to the warning signs. It is one of those "hurts so good" moments. The writer of Hebrews reminds us,

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Heb 12:11, NASB