Red, Yellow, Green

He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come!  Luke 17:1  NASB

Woe– Forget blue.  The Bible doesn’t come in blue.  Blue is not an obedient color.  The Bible comes in red, yellow and green.  Green is for obedient living.  Green is good.  Good things happen to greenies.  That doesn’t mean things are always good from their perspective, but they know that everything that happens to them is green from God’s point of view so it’s good.  Green is for “Go!”  Go green.

Red is just the opposite.  Red is not good.  Yes, we know about Red Letter Bibles, but in the text itself, red usually means being off the track and running head-long toward a brick wall.  Red means crash, either now or later. Sometimes red means “Game over.” Red results in “too late.” Red is the color of disobedience and judgment.  When we even see a hint of red, it’s time to make a U-Turn.  Most of us know what red looks like.  Some of us don’t seem to care.  Fortunately, God is patient with red riders.  He doesn’t end the game immediately because He hopes that the consequences of red riding will scare us to green.

Then there is yellow.  Hebrew prophecy is yellow.  It is warning track, signal change, “caution—danger ahead” revelation.  The entire purpose of yellow is to make us green.  That’s why there is no blue.  Yellow must be transmuted into green, not simply mixed with a color God doesn’t have.  Yellow must become green.  The word of the Lord comes in yellow so that the people will turn green.  Red manifests itself as yellow in order to propel us toward green. Red—yellow—green.  That’s the biblical way.  Recognize the danger, look at your feet on the warning track and turn back to the green grass.

If you decided to color your Bible, you only need these three.  There will be a lot of green promises, some red finish lines and a big bunch of yellow warnings.  Frankly, it’s not much use reading only the green stuff. It would be nice to spend your whole life on nice green fields, but most of us tend to think that red adds spice to life.  Red looks volcanically appealing.  Red is flashy, fast and furious.  And lethal. Green is nice and safe but given human proclivities toward risk and danger, red is a rather constant seductive threat.  Maybe that’s why so many of the prophets come in yellow.

Sometimes I wonder about those tests involving color preferences.  If someone asked you what is your favorite color, do you suppose your answer would be biblical?  Probably not.  Kinda makes you wonder why we avoid delightful green gardens, doesn’t it? Do you suppose we’ve been so programmed for danger that we’re all colorblind?  Maybe the best way to straighten out our color code deficiencies is to identify the colors God put into His plans.  Start with yellow.  “Woe” is a yellow word.  Where you find yellow, turn around.  Quickly.

Topical Index: woe, colors, ‘oy, Luke 17:1