In today’s devotion, let’s talk about today’s thought, “Ignore At Your Own Peril”.

SCRIPTURE | Today’s thought comes from Isaiah 53:3 which says, “3 We despised him and rejected him—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we didn’t care.”

STORY | A story shared in “Today In The Word”, is told that during the American Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. 

General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey where the Hessians were encamped. The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead wrote his message on a piece of paper. 

A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game he stuffed the unread note into his pocket. When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington’s army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present–their first major victory of the war against British rule.

LESSON | Ignorance is simply a lack of knowledge or information in curtain subject matters, which can not only be costly, but can often be deadly. In the story, the general was ignorant of what was coming against him, not because the knowledge wasn’t available, but because he chose to ignore the information and carry on with a trivial matter, in the midst of a war; that’s why it turned deadly.

The Prophet Isaiah intimated something very close to this in his discussion of Jesus Christ and the message He would bring to the world. He said, we despised him, rejected him, turned our back on him, and acted as if we didn’t care because He wasn’t important. Yet it was our grief He bore, our sorrows and sins He carried, and our sicknesses he was whipped for.

In our lives, we all have ignored Jesus at some point, and even today, there are many still ignoring him, yet, it is at their own peril. Reach someone today and help them pay attention to Jesus, because He is exactly what they need. 

PRAYER | Father, I thank you today that many of us have received Jesus, and He has given us power to become your sons. Help us to always pay attention to Jesus. Amen.