Behold and Beware

Someone said, “The two great words of antiquity are behold and beware. Behold the possibilities and beware the temptations and dangers.”

One of the great “beholds” of the Bible is in John 1:29 and 36. John the Baptist saw Jesus walking by and he stood and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The next day he saw him again and He stood and said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

The word simply means “look,” “be aware,” “don’t miss this moment.” It almost as if one is saying, “This is an opportunity of a lifetime... don’t miss it.” John wanted them to know that this was not just another man walking by. This was Divinity in flesh, and He was going to change everything.

The other word is “beware.” In the Bible you hear things like “Beware of false prophets” or “beware of the scribes” or “beware of the dogs.” It is a word of caution. It means, as well as “behold” does, to see it and not to miss it, but “behold” says, “Don’t miss it so you can embrace it” and “beware” says, “Don’t miss it so you can avoid it.”

One has to do with opportunities and the other with opposition that wants to keep you from the opportunities. We all have unlimited opportunities in life. We just don’t behold them. I challenge you today to look up and see, “behold” the opportunities that God places before you today. Opportunity is not always obvious. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” It doesn’t often just jump out and grab your attention. You have to be on the alert, ready to see it.

On the other hand temptation jumps out in front of us to trip us up, to blind us to the opportunities. Did you ever ask yourself why opportunity knocks once but temptations bangs on the door constantly? I am not sure I have the answer but it sure is true.

Truthfully, opportunity and danger are pretty close. The concept of “crisis” in Chinese is represented by two words, "danger" and "opportunity." When we manage the crisis of our lives following the example of Jesus Christ, we are able to turn the dangers and disasters of life into opportunities to fulfill the will of God.

While we don’t embrace temptation or danger, when we are in the fire of temptation and danger we embrace (behold) God who can turn every crisis into an opportunity to bring glory to His name. So behold and beware today.

Zig Ziglar tells the story of boy that went with his mother to the old general store. He liked to sneak away from his mother and when no one was looking he would dip his finger into the large barrel of molasses.

The storekeeper caught him doing this and decided to teach the boy a lesson. He picked up the boy by his britches and dunked him head first into the barrel of molasses and then set him out on the front porch of the store. But instead of crying the boy was out there praying, ““God, give me the tongue to equal this opportunity.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give me faith equal to the opportunities You will place before me today. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear the blessings and strength to resist the temptations that come to blind me to and keep me from the opportunities to bring honor and glory to Your name. AMEN.

Blessings!
Pastor Roger