Taking precautions

“… When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him …” (Mark 3:8–9, ESV).

“And Jesus sternly charged him [a leper he healed] and sent him away at once, and said to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone. …’ But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people came to him from every quarter” (Mark 1:43–45, ESV).

The example of Jesus shows us that being sons of God should not make us sloppier about taking precautions in life. Sloppiness in preparation of personal safety concerns or our material things is presumption, not faith. In the first quote above, Jesus sees potential bodily danger in the size of the crowd and calls for a boat. In the second example, Jesus sees that the man with loose lips has endangered him and his ministry by inviting the attention of the religious leaders, so He prudently decides to lie low in the outskirts of town.

Parents are supposed to lay up material things for their children and not simply to say, “God will provide” and go off to the casino:

“For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children” (2 Corinthians 12:14, ESV).

Though Jesus instructed His disciples not to take extra baggage with them on their two maiden missionary journeys, He later issues different instructions:

“‘When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?’ They said, ‘Nothing.’ He said to them, ‘But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one’” (Luke 22:35–36, ESV).

We must always be on guard not to confuse faith with laxness in diligence. My favorite illustration of that is the massive rebuilding project of the dilapidated wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah, cupbearer to the Persian king, is granted permission to return to Israel on an exploratory visit and finds the walls of Jerusalem in disrepair. It is God’s will that he galvanize his fellow Jews to rebuild it.

Yet even though his purpose is aligned entirely with God’s will, and God is fully able to protect the Jews against their many enemies who want to scuttle the project, Nehemiah and his men take every precaution:

“From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other” (Nehemiah 4:16–17, ESV).

So pray to God and pass the ammo.

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