Red Sky at Night

         My Father often quoted the poem, “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.” I was quite excited when I found that in the Bible. Well, the poem was not there, but the idea of the coloring of the sky would give some indication of the weather for tomorrow. We sometimes have warning signs of something and then tend to live our lives to avoid those things. When I was a kid, I never wore a shirt during the summer months. In fact, I rarely wore shoes so bare back and bare feet, I would spend my time in the fields or out somewhere playing. My hair was white and I was known as a Toe Head. My feet were black on the bottom from running across the asphalt tar of U. S. 20. I didn't know the warning signs back then of skin cancer. Today, we have all kinds of sun screens to blot out the harmful rays of the sun. When we hear of warnings today, we mostly take heed to what they say except the ones that are mentioned in the Bible. Matthew 16:2-3 says, “He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

        The Lord Jesus Christ was exhorting the people that day and reminded them that they could have a pretty good guess about tomorrow's weather, but couldn't notice what was going on right in front of them with spiritual matters. This should sound familiar to us. The same thing is happening today and for one reason or another, people refuse to take heed to the Word of God. My dermatologist told me, “If you don't get melanoma, it will be by the grace of God.” So far, so good on that one, although I have had plenty of moles removed from my back that were suspicious looking. We might, however, say the same thing about the conditions in our world today. If we are not blown off the face of the earth, it will be by the grace of God. Second Timothy 3:1-5 gives us some conditions of mankind that are listed for the “last days.” As you read that list along with the local newspaper you will see a remarkable similarity. The conditions are here in this present time. As each generation comes and goes, the conditions increase just when we think that things could not get any worse. In acts 1:10-12, we read about the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and the people looking up until the angels reminded them that Jesus is going to come in like manner. Each day that passes is another day closer to that time. Couple that with the conditions listed in Second Timothy and you see that the time is right. The warnings are all around us but we seem to have the same attitude of the people the Gospel of Matthew who could determine tomorrow's weather, but could not see what was happening right around them. The signs are all around us, but not taken seriously because God did not strike us down yesterday so we figure we can go on ignoring Him. That will not always be the case. What can we possibly do now? Strive to have a continually growing relationship with God in our lives and as I always mention at the close of each devotion, “keep looking up.” Praise God that He has His plan for each and every one of us.