Friday night, I stayed late at work to get things ready for this week. There weren't very many people in my part of the building, but there were basketball games starting in both the High School and Middle School Gyms. There were probably about 200 people in the building. About 6:30, I was running copies. Then the fire alarm went off. We have procedures to follow in the event that this happens during school and I felt it was prudent to follow the same procedure….well, not exactly. I didn't have to take my emergency kit with me, yell for attendance when I got outside, keep students off of the neighbor’s lawns, and report to the designated people to make sure that all of my students were accounted for. I left through the main entrance with 3 other people. I glanced toward the entrance to the gym and was surprised to see that no one was exiting the building. After several minutes, the alarm stopped, we reentered the building, and I went back to what I was doing. Apparently, someone had burned the popcorn and it set off the smoke detectors. Everyone was safe, but what if had been a real fire. There were about 200 people that heard the alarm or saw the flashing lights and chose to ignore them. I wonder what was going through their minds to bring them to that conclusion. Were the games that riveting? Had they become complacent because it had happened before? Did they think they were invincible to danger? Whatever it was, they stayed. But, what if it had been a real fire. The high school section was built in the 1950’s. That means materials, varnish, and construction that would result in a significant fire spread. Think about 200 people now needing rescuing. Think about the professionals that would have to risk their lives to do so. Think about those that didn't make it. Think about the families and friends affected by the loss. That’s pretty sobering, in my opinion.
As usual, God tapped me on the shoulder and told me to pay attention. The 200 people in the building didn’t see any evidence of fire. They had no way of knowing if it was a concession stand catastrophe or a real danger. Sin is like that. We are so wrapped up in what we are doing that we ignore all the alarms that God has put in place to protect us. We are so focused on enjoying ourselves that we just keep sinning no matter what the dangers are. We can’t always see the evidence of sin so we think we can just ignore it. In our opinion, no one is getting hurt at the moment so it doesn’t matter. What we can’t see is that the fire is spreading and we are in danger. Not only that, but we put other people in danger also. We don’t think about the other people who get hurt either trying to rescue us or watch helplessly while they wait for us to admit the danger of the sin. We don’t think about the fact that present sin may not seem all that bad, but can greatly alter what God had planned for our futures.
God already gave us the procedures to follow in the event of being faced with sin. Just like those who work at the school, we need to plan ahead, be prepared and follow the guidelines that are in place. We need to stop ignoring the alarms that God is giving us. Then we will be able to escape the fire.
