Proverbs 27:12 Kjv A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished

On Easter Sunday, in the year 2013, a place near North Carolina-Virginia border was closed for hours following a massive chain of accidents.

Police later reported that seventeen different collisions involved ninety-five cars and trucks. The wrecks left three people dead and more than two dozen injured, many of them seriously. The cause of the accidents was people driving into a thick fog that descended over the Interstate that Sunday afternoon.

A police spokesman said, “Visibility at the time this accident occurred was down to about one hundred feet or less.” As people continued to drive blindly forward, they could not see the danger that was just ahead until it was too late.

If we are going to succeed in life and avoid crashes in the various areas of our lives, prudence is one of the qualities that are indispensable. The following are features of someone living with prudence:

#1. Prudence reminds us to be on guard for danger—not just in the present but in the future as well. Because of the way our minds work, we often tend to discount what may happen in the future simply because it hasn’t happened yet; but a prudent person sees the danger that is ahead, and escapes.

#2. Prudence reminds us to have a backup plan. In life when a prudent man gets laid off, he considers a “plan B” and always leaves with enough savings, a transferable skill, and another job or two waiting. A “simple man”, on the other hand, would lose his job and have no financial cushion, be untrained, and end up hurting his family, and would not know what to do.

#3. Prudence reminds us to plan for the future. Prudent parents would manage the number and timing of their children to be excellent parents, but the simple would reproduce like rabbits, not considering the cost, effort, time, or wisdom to get them all to adulthood with Christian character, productive careers, and godly spouses.

Precious one, make a conscious effort to be prudent and your life would never be the same, Amen.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to live a prudent life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.