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Check out Bob's other commentaries on the Australia Blogspot click on blog  You would have to be almost dead to miss the World Cup of late in South Africa. The Beautiful game, soccer, futbol, football, whatever you call it, has captured fans worldwide for generations. Now we are down to 8 teams, representing their country: Argentina, Germany, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Ghana, Netherlands and Spain.
The use of the yellow card, pictured here, is a big deal. There are so few penalties and so much riding on penalty kicks/goals. One extra penalty on your side, and you could give away the match and have to wait another four years for a rematch. If you get too many yellows, you exempt yourself from playing in the next match. or if in the same match, you incur the red, thus diminishing your side's strength. I know, it can be confusing, sorry, but all up, it's a warning.
In Australia we have warnings for all kinds of things. Swim between the flags; watch out for cattle and sheep crossing; Watch Out, Kids about; and hundreds more. I remember crossing a new marking on the ground in Sydney. It took me a while to sort out what the warning was about. It was yellow. It was an alert to be sure, but now only 7 months later, I drive right through the warning without much thought about the school zone through which I'm passing. A couple months  later, they added pennants on the ground as another warning, but still I often miss those.
What is it about warnings? What is it about us? We seem to notice them for a bit, but over time, the impact is lost.
Deut. 32.46 he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law.
Consider Noah, who warned his fellow citizens about impending doom and preached for 120 years, to no avail. Consider Jonah, the prophet and the whaler. But consider what God told Jonah to do. "The word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city, and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me.” (chapter 1. verses 1-2) God's love is for all people. He cares enough to warn them. He cared enough to send one of his best to tell them the bad/good news. What great love!
Think of Peter, who although he failed the Lord on this matter, and his weeping was warranted, still, there was a private considerate appeal. Jesus looked at Peter. He didn't shout at him saying, "You loser! What's wrong with you? I walked with you and let you walk on the water with me. Now, you dissociate yourself from me? Come on, turn it around!" No, Jesus gave Peter yet another chance. And a quiet one. It was a yellow card. It was a warning. And in due course Peter turned it around, again with Jesus' help. Thank God.
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