“You are free to choose,
but you are not free from the
consequences of your choice.” (Anon.)
For today’s editorial
lesson I’m going to take a couple of words from the above statement and offer
some spiritual thoughts for you to consider. The two words are “choose (or choices)” and “consequences.” I
think it important to look at these words for a few minutes because they are
something that we deal with almost on a daily basis.
And, in our study of
them, we can go all the way back to the very beginning of man’s existence on
earth and see an example of our dealing with them. Back in the Garden of
Eden man was living in a paradise provided by God. He was given
everything needed for a wonderful and carefree life but, he was also given the
ability to make choices.
And, he was given one
rule wherein he’d have to choose to obey or not. One rule in which he was
told “NOT” to do something, but remember, he had the freedom to choose whether
to obey or not. Plus, he was told that there would be consequences to his
decision. That he would pay dearly for the wrong choice.
Well, we all know the
story of what happened with that choice, don’t we? Oh, I know that Eve
sinned first and then Adam followed suit, but both had to pay the consequences
for the choices they made. Eve listened to the serpent rather than God
and Adam listened to Eve rather than God.
What exactly were the
consequences incurred by the choices they made? Answer: both were
expelled from living in a perfect paradise to some pretty harsh living
conditions. From a lush and beautiful garden to a land of “thorns and thistles”
wherein man would have to eat bread “in
the sweat of his face” in order to provide himself with a
living. (Gen. 3:18-19)
And Eve would have to
bear children in pain and have her husband “rule
over her.” I’ve spent a couple of occasions in a maternity
labor ward and I can attest to the fact that women bear children in pain.
But, the main
consequence brought into being by their poor choices is that death came into
the world because the “Tree of
Life” was no longer available to man. It was removed by God
to a location that man cannot get to without following a certain route which
involves having to make another choice.
Here’s an interesting
thought for you to consider: do you think God knew that man would sin when He
gave him the ability to choose his actions? Of course He did. But
here’s the great thing about God - even though they were expelled from the
garden, from the presence of God, He still provided man with the ability and
the where-with-all to make a living in this world.
That reminds me to
mention a bit more about the worst part of Adam/Eve’s consequence of removal
from the presence of God. See, by their choice, they sinned, became
imperfect and, since God is perfect, imperfection or sin cannot be in His
presence.
You know, Adam & Eve
aren’t the only ones in the Bible we can look at as examples of poor
choices. In Deut. 32 we read where Israel “forsook” God and began worshiping “strange gods.” It
says in verse 18 that they “forgot
the God who gave them birth.” In other words, they chose to
pay homage, to honor, something instead of God.
Here’s another example
of poor choices. In Joshua 24:15 we read where Israel was given a
choice. To worship God or to worship idols. They said that they would
honor and follow God, but after Joshua’s death, it tells us in Judges 5:8 that
they “chose new gods.”
Now turn your Bibles to
the 10th chapter of Judges and you can read about some of the “strange gods” that Israel
adopted when they “forsook the
Lord and did not serve Him.” (Vs. 6) Why I’m pointing this
particular “choice”out
is to show you what God said to them about the consequence of their
choice. In verses 13-14 he tells them, “Yet
you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no
more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you
in the time of your distress.”
OK, let’s get back to
the greatness of God and the evidence of His love for man, the epitome of all
His creation. He knew that man, with the freedom to choose his actions,
would choose wrong and commit sin. Would sometimes listen to “the
serpent” and not Him. So, for that reason, He had a plan from the very
beginning whereby man, if he chose to follow it, could once again be reunited
with God in a paradise.
There are many places in
the New Testament where you can read about this “plan” of “reconciliation” but
probably the most concise passages regarding it is found in the 2nd chapter of
Ephesians. That chapter will tell you, not only how it’s administered,
but why it was necessary and through Whom, and in Whom, that plan
resides.
But again, it’s a matter
of choice. A matter of choosing whether or not to participate in His
plan. And realize this most important thing about the plan: it is the
only one He has made. There isn’t going to be another plan made
available. No other one coming down the road later. This is the
only one because it rests solely in His “only
begotten Son,” Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind. He is the
only sacrifice given by The Father to implement this plan.
So, we have a choice
today. We either obey and serve God according to His plan or, we choose
something else, with the understanding that “something else” is one and the
same as “strange gods.”
And I strongly suspect that if our choice is “something else” then His response
to us at the last day, our “time
of distress,” (Rev. 6:15-17) will be that, since we chose a plan
different from His, we’ll hear “let
them save you.”
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
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