Consequences of our choices

 

     There are two kinds of consequences; good and bad.  Nothing in the middle or outside those boundaries.  There is good and there is bad.  Consequences have a long history with people.  Adam and Eve had a good consequence living in the garden and threw it all away for a shot at what the forbidden tree had for them.  We live with that bad choice and have bad consequences as a result.  The Bible says that we will have to toil the rest of the days of our lives.  The Bible says that women will have pain in childbirth as a result.  We all know the story of Cain and Able.  What was good and intended to bless creation was thrown away in a moment of temptation.  I could stop writing here but as Mr. Harvey says, "Now for the rest of the story."  No one can doubt that there are negative or bad consequences here on earth.  It's a universal truism that applies to everyone and anyone on planet earth.  There are also positive or good consequences here on earth.  Sometimes it may seem like the good or positive are absent due to the state our world is in.  But, good and bad, positive and negative, they do co-exist with each other.  My choice is always right up front and God has given me free will to exercise that choice.  It's my choice and today I choose....we shall see.
      God is king of the rabbit trails.  What?  God owns the patent on changes of direction and the plan to bring good out of bad.  Take for instance my life.  It's a good example of bad choices with some good ones mixed in which affect all of my life.  My choices also affect everyone who is in some way connected with me.  The Bible says the sins of the father are visited on the children to the third and fourth generation.  That simply means that my kids, grandkids and great-grandkids will all be affected by my choices today.  It doesn't mean that they will repeat my sin.  It means that the temptation will be there.  It means that legacy is affected and demeaned when I sin.  Grace enters into the picture right about here.  Because of Adam and Eve (yes, we're back to them) I have a sin nature.  It's the consequence of their sin...in a negative way.  We cannot undo history.  We cannot undo what we did yesterday or even up to this moment.  Grace allows us to stop and start over.  When I sin, I step outside the will of God.  When I repent God brings grace to the table to reinstate me as his child.  The "path" has been altered by my sin just as it remains unaltered by my obedience.  For every Plan B I choose (not God's plan), God presents another modified Plan A taking me back on the path he wants me to be on.  Grace is like that.
     This choice of good and bad, positive and negative, sin or obedience cuts across every life here on earth.  Franklin Graham, son of Billie Graham, was a prodigal son before God presented him with Grace.  Now Franklin, like father Billie, is a representative of God with impeccable standing as a Christian leader.  This is far from the gun toting motorcycle rider he was.  The Bible is full of people who were incredible role models who fell.  David with Bathsheba come to mind.  Why should you and I be exempt?  Here is a truth.  Satan spends his time working on and against those who are doing something for God.  That doesn't mean we need to live in sin to be good Christians.  It means the battle gets harder the more we submit to God's plan and choose positive consequences regardless of what that choice may mean.  The recent shooting in Oregon makes this point.  Victims were asked if they were Christian.  If they said yes, they were killed.  I don't know about you but after the first victim I would have been wondering what answer to give.  Yet, the ones who followed, knowing their fate, answered they were Christians.  While the shooting deaths were tragic; the question remains what would I do in a similar situation?  Would I take a stand for God and against Satan?  Would I choose right over wrong in my workplace?  Would I confront evil and risk all the negative this world has to throw at me?  Well, would I?   
     I have chosen to sin.  No one "accidentally" sins.  You choose to sin.  I have chosen to be obedient.  No one "accidentally" obeys.  Both are a conscious decision.  We know right from wrong.  We have a need in our lives and society to be acknowledging our sin, repenting from that sin and being obedient to God.  The consequences of both choices are before us.  Should we want the blessings of God; we need to be obedient out of gratitude to God.  Should we be satisfied with the negative; we need to keep on doing what the world tells us to do.  Pretty simple really.  It's a choice we face every moment of every day.  Obey or sin.  The consequences will follow.  They will be either positive or negative, good or bad, but they will be there.