Tiny Devotional for RED Friday, 01-22-2021

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, we are yet holding on.

A prudent person sees evil and hides himself,
But the naïve proceed, and pay the penalty.
Proverbs 22:3, NASB

I wrote about this verse years ago. The occasion: self-treatment of gut issues. Unfortunately, instead of grabbing the bottle that calmed my innards, I had been taking doses of laxative. 

Naïve? Check.

Penalty? Check.

At least I was the only one paying the penalty. That isn’t always true.

One very Near and Dear to us has been naïve;  MANY have paid a penalty.

Last year, just before hospitals went into lock-down due to COVID, our Dear One became ill.
Vanessa, who has lupus,  recognized the “butterfly rash.” 
It’s a bad disease, but people can live a great, full life, if they take the necessary treatment. Vanessa told  Dear One that, and provided many kinds of support.
D.O. didn’t get treatment, worsened, and required hospitalization.
But, because COVID!!!!, the hospital focused on that, and D.O. didn’t get the necessary treatment for WEEKS. Upon discharge, though, D.O. was thoroughly educated, medicated, and referred.

Didn’t matter. D.O. chose to be naïve.
Instead of doctors, D.O. consulted the Internet. Instead of meds, essential oils and special foods.
Didn’t work.
But D.O. stayed the course! Because that’s what the naïve do!
The kidneys shut down first, followed by lungs and heart. 
Hospital time!
Heroic efforts by the medics pulled off a miracle, but D.O. is still hospitalized..

D.O. paid a penalty; so did D.O.’s spouse, and three small children, who have been sleeping with grandparents; and others who love D.O.

And ALL of that was avoidable.

Lesson learned? We hope so.

Peace be on your household.