It finally happened! We were walking up the hill and as I turned to go back down, I heard my husband yell. My first reaction was that something had happened to him when I wasn’t looking. But then he informed me that I had just stepped on a little caterpillar.

I was very sad that this had happened because we had been enjoying watching the little creatures and trying to avoid stepping on them. The sound he had made was his way of warning me that I was about to step on the little one—but it was too late!

The day before we had seen a very small caterpillar near the edge of the road. We assumed it was a young one. My husband had observed that its mother should have warned it not to “play in the street”. Maybe she did, because we didn’t see it again.

What mother doesn’t warn her child of danger—from stoves, fire, traffic, strangers, etc. Fathers, grandparents, teachers, leaders of all sorts, have a responsibility to guide those under their care. As a matter of fact, we all should be aware that we have an obligation to care for one another, warning others of dangers in this life. The prophet Ezekiel (Ez. 3:16-21 NKJV) was told that if he did not give the warnings to his people, he would suffer the consequences.

Most of us are familiar with John 3:16. However John 3:18 gives a warning for those who choose not to believe. In between, in John 3:17 is the reinforcement that God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to save the world.

My prayer for all who read this is that you would heed the warning and choose to believe and be saved.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.