Words Of Encouragement — Words Of Warning
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles, uncategorizedThe story is told of a woman who purchased a birthday card containing the following verse:
“The Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply” (Deuteronomy 28:63 NLT).
She thought that it was such a beautiful thought so she turned to the passage to read more.
As she read the passage, she discovered 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 found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy” (Deuteronomy 28:63 NLT).
If the whole verse had been included on the birthday card, that would certainly have been an unusual birthday greeting!
The above story reminds us how easy it is to select pleasant phrases from the Bible while ignoring their context and meaning. The Bible contains words of encouragement as well as words of warning (cf. Romans 2:1-11; Romans 11:1-22. It’s important for us as Christians to appreciate both for their instruction in our daily walk with the Lord.