We all have those people in our lives that try to warn us against downfalls. How do we react to them? Do we take their words to heart and accept them with humility? Do we react with harsh words denying any pitfalls we may be encountering? There are two examples of each we can read in the Bible.

The first was King Asa. He started out his reign seeking God and doing His will. The more success he had, the further from God He became. King Asa stopped seeking God’s will and started depending on his own personal abilities. When warning came to him from God’s prophet, he reacted with harsh words. He even threw the prophet in jail and oppressed the people. Do we attack the ones warning us, or those around us, because we don’t want to accept our failures?

2 Chronicles 16:9-10 (KJV)

9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.

10 Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time.

The second example was King David. We all heard his stories. David did many wrongs in his life. The difference between King Asa and King David was that David heeded to the words of the prophet that came to him. When Nathan approached David and pointed out his sins, David humbled himself before the Lord and sought forgiveness. There were consequences David still had to endure, but he still choose the Lord. We all make bad decisions, but we should look to David’s reaction to his bad decisions as our example. We should seek God’s forgiveness and accept our consequences knowing God has our best interest at heart.

2 Samuel 12:13-15 (KJV)

13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

Our challenge now is to look at both of these examples and choose which one we will follow. Will we attack those that love us and want to warn us of pitfalls, or will we accept their warnings and turn back to God?