When God says Beware, what does he mean?
Be on your guard, watch out, be alert
Be wary of , be careful of
The word beware appeared in the bible 26 times.
Exodus 23:20-21 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
Be careful not to provoke the Angel of the Lord. You can provoke the Angel of the Lord through unbelief, murmuring and complaining.
Don’t forget your God.
Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day
Do you only remember God when you need God? Do you pray to him just because you need his help? When he helps you and makes you prosperous, do you remember him? God is saying to us that he is the source of all our riches and wealth, even when you have worked hard and become successful, it’s the Lord who gave you the grace, because if it was by hard work alone a lot of people would be very rich.
Be careful to obey the specific instructions God gave you
Judges 13:13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.
There are specific things God has told you. Don’t think something is wrong with you, these instructions are for your good, this is God protecting you and helping to establish you on the right path.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Being a Christian should not mean that you are naive, rather the Jesus says that we be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This requires some level of tactfulness on our part and not to jump into every thing that sounds good. We must search the scriptures, we must have a witness in our spirit. Don’t go to every place called church. Be led by the spirit of God so as to avoid being trapped or ensnared by the devil.
Beware of covetousness, greed
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
God is not against us having possessions as some people think, rather he knows we have need of them. The bible says that he shall supply all our needs according to his riches in glory. However, God is against greed. When you have more than enough for yourself and yet you are not happy, you envy others, you don’t want anyone around you to prosper even when you are already so blessed, then such a person needs to repent.
God help us as we heed his warnings.
