Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
I can remember getting on the school bus and hearing the chatter of children as they talked excitedly about the upcoming weekend. All of us couldn’t wait to get home and run down to the lake to play on the beach, but we lived a long distance from town and depending upon the traffic, it could take over an hour to finally pull into our driveway. Occasionally, our bus driver had to reduce speed as we followed a slow moving vehicle. This went on for quite a while as it was impossible to pass them safely because of all of the turns on the highway. It always seemed to be the same vehicle, an old white car with an older gentleman sitting behind the steering wheel. He would crawl along the highway slowly and cautiously, which was troubling to us, because at this rate it would take us twice as long to get home! When we finally passed him, we would all wave at the gray haired driver, but nothing could take his eyes off the path in front of him. He took his driving very seriously, and didn’t want to make any mistakes by going into the ditch, or hitting another oncoming vehicle.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
In order to get home safely, we need to take our driving seriously, thinking about the consequences for not paying attention. If we really desire to obtain eternal life, we must learn to walk slowly and cautiously in this world, with the understanding of the consequences for sinful living. It is a narrow path that we must walk, and we want to make sure that we keep ourselves on the road and alert at all times.
Ephesians 5 ¹⁵ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, ¹⁶ Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
To be circumspect means to be cautious, wary and unwilling to take risks, or being exposed to danger, harm or loss.
Imagine driving up on an active construction site somewhere in a big city. You can clearly see that there are all kinds of obstacles and potential hazards surrounding their project. They have a large crane moving heavy metal beams over the highway. They have huge trucks that are hauling gravel and leveling the ground. Right at that moment, you have a decision to make. You can either travel through it, or completely avoid it, what will you do? I would take the nearest exit ramp, but that’s just me. It doesn’t matter if it took another half an hour, there are all kinds of things that could go wrong. There are consequences for the choices that you make, especially with God.
Before making any type of decision during your day, a follower of Christ must first consider the teachings of scripture and make sure that whatever you do is according to His will. But when people choose to do their own thing, then they are rejecting the Council of God and there will be consequences because of it. God does not reward that type of behavior, but will punish it instead. This is why you must consider closely the consequences for the choices that you make. If it is outside of the will of God, then it is a foolish decision. God will bless us with rewards when we love and obey Him, but God is not mocked and He will punish the rebellious right up until the day of judgement.
Galatians 6 ⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
A lot of people associate a consequence with something bad, but that isn’t always the case. If you split wood and fill up your shed during the summer, it can result in you having wood to burn on a cold winter’s night. If you pick all of the vegetables that you grew in your garden, you can have food to eat later that fall. But these are only temporal examples. People have said that God helps those who help themselves, but the truth is that God helps those who humbly obey His will! He doesn’t aid the wicked, but will cast them down to the ground.
“The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.” Psalms 147:6
If you walk obediently in the perfect will of God, you can eventually reap the reward of eternal life! Our God is a rewarder, and will bless those who faithfully serve Him. On the other hand, He is a God of wrath and must be feared. Unlike the world, He is perfectly just, and will reward people according to their works, whether they are good or bad.
Romans 2 ⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; ⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds: ⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: ⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, ⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; ¹⁰ But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: ¹¹ For there is no respect of persons with God.
¹² For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
¹³ (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
I guarantee that you will never reap good consequences by completely resisting and violating the will of God. That’s like thinking good will come to those who do wicked and evil things. That is not only blasphemous but a preposterous thought! If you choose to never check the oil level on your vehicle, sometime down the road you will probably run low on oil and then blow the motor, which is a consequence for your own negligence. This is why we are never supposed to neglect our faith, disregarding the commands of scripture in order to make our own decisions instead.
1 Timothy 4 ¹⁴ Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. ¹⁵ Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
We must tread cautiously, and make sure that we continually abide in the will of God.
Hebrews 2 ² For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; ³ How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Christians are called to be vigilant which means to be watchful and alert to any danger that could ultimately affect one’s relationship with God.
1 Peter 5 ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
It is always better to think first, rather than foolishly making an unwise and rash commitment to something that has not been carefully thought through. These types of foolish decisions are made according to the flesh, rather than through careful contemplation of the will of God.
Do you think before you act? Does the will of God determine your decision making? Are you considering the consequences for the choices that you make? When I ponder those questions, it makes me think back to seeing those cautious and careful hands gripped firmly upon the steering wheel of…….
……..The Gray Haired Driver
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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