Choices today matter tomorrow

I woke up to a world of beautiful white snow as far as I can see—lawn, park, and school grounds on the other side of Collins Park. When I was a child, snow drew me outside to make snowmen and snow angels. This snow, though it didn’t appear real deep, did not tempt me.

Much of the day I hear something bang against the roof and windows—and it wasn’t soft fluffy snowflakes. What I heard on into the night was cold, hard sleet. The day before I heard warnings of what this storm was bringing. Though we were warned we might lose power, that, thankfully, did not happen.

As I look outside I am not tempted to go out. In fact, we’ll stay warm and safe inside. Though snow may tempt, sleet does not. This lovely snow hides something deadly. Under that particular snow is a coating of ice. With the overcast skies and temperatures, I doubt much will melt quickly, making this even more a potential for disastrous falls and accidents.

Life is often like our deceptive snow. What appears harmless may well cover up something that can alter a life forever—and not for the better. A small white lie can rebound into hurting you or someone else. Taking something, even a small, something can lead one into making negative choices. The truth is the more negative decisions one makes the easier it is to make the next bad choice. A man checks out porn and then more. He gets too cozy with another employee or friend, sharing things and feelings that should be shared with a spouse.

Dinner. Lying to a spouse. One step at a time and trust is broken, hearts are shattered, and marriage is destroyed with kids as collateral damage. Media and movies excuse such behavior, often mocking the sanctity of marriage. Even filling our minds with such negativity makes it easier to excuse bad and dishonest choices.

Instead of skirting the edges of disaster by giving in to temptation that appears beautiful and inviting, we can remind ourselves of the slippery path we’re choosing. We can strive to be honest and persons of integrity in all we do, think, and say. As making one wrong choice makes the next wrong easier, so choosing the path of integrity makes the next positive choice easier as well.

Faith can help us make those positive choices that lift up instead of destroying our lives, reputations and families. This year, what path will we choose?

© 2023 Carolyn R Scheidies

Column published 2023 February 8

Feel free to share

Devotion God Hates Sin: Loves the Sinner--ME?

Read: I Corinthians 10:1-14, 23, 31

There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it. --1 Corinthians 10:13

Eve listened to the serpent and ate of the forbidden fruit. Did she smile when she turned and tempted Adam? Did he merely wish to please his wife when he chomped his teeth into the fruit and ignored God’s plain admonition to not eat it?

The serpent said doing so would enlighten them. It did that. What he failed to mention were the consequences, already clearly laid out, that disobedience would open them to the world of evil as well as good. They found death, terror, and fear. They lost their innocence, their security, and their dependence on their Creator.

They forfeited an intimate relationship with God and a perfect world for momentary pleasure and a world twisted by evil, hate, loneliness, and death. Is it any wonder God hates sin? He knows the devastating results.

Joseph’s older brothers became so consumed with hatred and jealousy, they lost their reason and critical thinking skills. They were so focused on hatred they planned to murder their own brother until they found a horrifying alternative--sell him into slavery. They meant what they did for evil. From then on, uncertainty, fear and guilt followed them—even after discovering Joseph was alive.

What of Korah? Was he not as important as Moses? He thought of himself so highly he chose to not only defy the leader God had chosen, the man who led them out of years of slavery in Egypt but also misled others in his rebellion. The consequences were grave--death for the rebels and their immediate families.

God hates sin because it leads to harm of self and others. It is destructive, and a vehicle for more evil. Out of fear, the Israelites refused to go in and conquer the Promised Land. Their disobedience brought them 40 years of wandering in the desert until the adult population died. Their sons and daughters were the ones who entered the land promised by God.

David committed murder out of fear his adultery would be exposed. It was revealed anyway. The son of that affair died soon after birth. Though his repentance restored his fellowship with God, the seeds of his actions took their long-term toll on his family and his people. God really does hate sin, because he knows there are always negative consequences.

How lightly do we take sin--if we admit that word into our vocabulary at all? Do we fudge on taxes, cheat on a test? Have we taken towels from a motel, glasses, etc. from a restaurant? Have we taken the mind we gave to Jesus and filled it with a profusion of adultery, fornication, violence, greed, and other sins in our search for “entertainment?”

Do we rationalize our sin, calling it by some other name? Excuse ourselves? Do we not realize there are consequences for not following God’s principles? Our choices matter for ourselves, our families, and who knows how far our choices for good or evil will reach. What we do in the privacy of our homes, with our families, and on the internet does matter.

Help me, Lord, maintain a clear and clean conscience before others and before You. If there are things in my life that do not please You, show me and give me the courage and strength to eliminate them from my life and home. Amen. 

Meditations:
Monday: Numbers 16:1-14
Tuesday: Deuteronomy 1:19-36
Wednesday: Genesis 3
Thursday: Exodus 20:1-17
Friday: Romans 6:23; I Peter 4:12-19
Saturday: Psalm 37:27-40; Acts 24:16

c) 2018, 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
Feel free to share.
From Listen! Who me? 
Print and Kindle versions