I once viewed the story of a Canadian fighter pilot who shot down more than 30 German planes during WWII only to be shot down while flying a transport plane for Israel, during that nation’s 1948 war for survival. The pilot was brave and brilliant but possibly pushed the limit and experienced what was likely inevitable.
The words of Jesus to Peter came to mind: “They that take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” Not everyone who “takes up the sword” (or these days the loaded weapon) in defence of their country is killed by one in the hands of another person. Jesus was saying that those who live to kill others will themselves be killed by someone, sometime, somewhere.
Then in the night the text came to me: “He that digs a pit shall fall into it; and he that rolls a stone will have one roll back on him.” (Proverbs 26:27) These two aspects have spiritual applications (as in Proverbs 28:10, which speaks of self-retribution). Taken at face value, these are common sense conclusions.
A well-digger who has dug many wells is bound to fall into one eventually, and one who rolls stones may be crushed by one that rolls back on him while he’s not looking. An unspiritual way of looking at this is: “Be not overly righteous — why destroy yourself? Neither be overly sinful — why die before your time?” (Ecclesiastes 7:16)
In the first case, it’s possible to make rules that you yourself might break. The result is self-condemnation. In the second case, one who is overly evil or is unusually stupid will likely live a short life (Ecclesiastes 7:17).
The lesson is not to become obsessively reactive but to keep a good balance and not make rules that you cannot keep! Oh, and if you’ve worked a long time in a dangerous occupation, why not switch to a safer one and likely live a bit longer?