PART
I - DECISIONS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES
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Indecision becomes decision with time.
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When one bases his life on principle (law), 99
percent of his decisions are already made.
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The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge
to cross and which to burn.
However, for the Christian, there must be guiding
principles for everything we believe and do.
Our choices in this life must be based on a “thus sayeth the Lord.”
GALATIANS
6:7
… For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
·
In Pr 16:33, we see that lots are cast into our laps, and we are put in
situations where we are called upon to make decisions.
In the end, the Lord disposes thereof; but what do we do first?
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According to Pr 16:9, we devise; we make decisions.
Yes, in the end, the Lord directs the steps; but do our decisions (how we
devise) have any bearing on how He directs?
·
In Jer 17:10, we see He gives according to our ways and the fruit of
our doings. What does He do to
evaluate our ways and our fruit? We
know He searches the heart and tries the reins.
Does it matter what is in our hearts and our most inner parts; does it
matter what decisions we make, what lots we pick?
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Solomon in Pro 20:27 says the Lord is searching the most inward parts
of the belly. Does God care what He
finds; does it matter? Do the
decisions we make matter; are they of any importance?
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According to Gal 6:7-8, we know it certainly matters.
What we reap is dependent on our decisions and subsequent actions.
We will reap what we sow! So
what if we decide to sow to the flesh all the time verses sowing to the spirit?
Will it make any difference in the end?
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This study is intended to center around decisions we face and make,
especially in our youth. We want to
understand that these decisions have consequences in this life as well as in the
life to come. We need to be fully
aware that we reap what we sow. We
then want to consider some principles, given to us by the Lord, to help us in
making these decisions.
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We will pose the question to the class: what decisions do we face or
expect to face in youth, as teenagers and young adults and what will be the
consequences of those decisions? We
will start with a list of potential decisions and refer to it throughout our
studies, making application in the subsequent lessons to the decisions we have
on our list.
1.
Will we serve God or self?
2.
Who will we keep as companions or friends?
3.
Who will we marry; or will we marry?
4.
What kind of work or career will we choose?
Will we have a public career or be a homemaker?
5.
Where will we live as we work or go to school?
6.
What church congregation will we attend, or be a
member of?
7.
How will we make financial decisions?
8.
With what determinations and commitment will we
approach school, work, and other responsibilities?
9.
In what activities will we be involved (sports,
recreation, social groups, service groups)?
10.
To
what media (T.V., radio, music, books, movies, magazines, Web pages) will we
allow ourselves to be exposed?
11.
What
clothes, jewelry, alterations or additions to our bodies will we allow or
disallow?
12.
What
kind of language will we use; will we curse or use euphemisms?
13.
Will
we allow ourselves to get involved in fornication, drunkenness (alcohol or
drugs), riotous living, or the like?
14.
Will
we go places or do things that could lead to actions described in # 13?
15.
What
do we do with our time, especially “free” time?
What should I do today, tonight?
16.
With
what spirit/attitude should I conduct myself?
Let’s emphasize the point that our decisions have consequences; the
Lord tells us we will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).
Sometimes this reaping is dramatic and immediate; someone immediately
reaps what he sows (bears consequences for his decisions), like Ananias and
Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) or Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1-2).
The rich man chose to sow to the flesh and reaped death (Lu 12:16-21).
Many times the ultimate reward/consequence isn’t realized until much
later. Lazarus and the rich man are
good examples. The rich man actually
had a good life, but in the end, the consequence of the life he led was
torments. Lazarus actually received
evil things in this life but great comfort in eternity (Lu 16:19-31).
We know the wicked will eventually bear the consequences of their
wickedness, but (for some) in this life things go well (Job 21:7-13).
On the other hand, things can seem not to go so well for the godly (in
this life), but eventually they will also reap what they sow.
[We know, of course, that this is God’s plan for us – see Heb 12:11].
The point is that sometimes the consequences of decisions may be delayed;
and for a time, it may even seem there are no consequences at all (2Ti 3:12).
According to Heb 5:9 what we are seeing in the preceding point, is that
our principle (we will reap what we sow) has application to our eternal
(everlasting) reward. If we choose
to obey Jesus, we can have eternal life. We
may reap some immediate benefits (like all spiritual blessings in Christ – Eph
1:3), but there may be some unpleasant consequences (like suffering wrongfully
– 1Pe 2:19). However, if we are
faithful to the end, we can have eternal life.
If we chose to not obey, we will reap everlasting destruction (2 Th
1:7-9). For such people, there are
some immediate consequences (like forfeiting the peace that passes understanding
– Ph 4:6-7, having the Lord against us – 1 Pe 3:12); but (from a worldly
standpoint) many things may go well for us.
In the end, however, it will be everlasting destruction.
The point is, eternally we are going to reap what we sow – eternal
life or everlasting destruction. Immediate
consequences may not be recognized or may be interpreted as being opposite of
what one might expect, but eventually we can be assured we will reap what we sow
eternally.
Not only will there be eternal consequences, but there also can be
consequences in this life. Again,
the point we really want to emphasize is that even if we are saved because we
have generally lived a faithful life, we can still reap some very unpleasant
consequences in this life because of poor or wrong decisions.
There are plenty of examples of this in the scripture.
Even the most faithful may have to bear difficult consequences in this
life because of decisions they made.
Remember Moses (Num 20:7-12). He is esteemed by God as one of His most
faithful. He did not leave God; he
just made one foolish mistake. But
he had to bear the consequences of that mistake.
That mistake kept him out of the Promised Land.
As punishment, God didn’t allow him to take the people into the land of
Canaan.
What about David in 2 Samuel 12:10-12?
He was a man after God’s own heart.
According to the testimony of the Lord, he “…did that which was right
in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded
him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1
Kings 15:5). Because of one
transgression, he had to bear quite a burden the rest of his life.
Sometimes others around us may be affected by decisions we make (2 Sam
24:10-17). Not only we, but others
involved have to bear the consequences of our decisions.
Consider drunk drivers. If we
make poor decisions that lead us to riotous living, we may have to bear
unpleasant consequences even if we repent. We
may have to go to jail, suffer poor health, and even deal with terminal illness.
We may see our family destroyed, suffer financial loss, or have memories
of things we have done or seen to plague us.
For example: take the famous basketball star—Magic Johnson, who (due
to riotous living) had HIV. If he
became a Christian, he would still have HIV.
He still was destined to a life of taking handfuls of expensive medicine
to keep the virus in check. Even
then it eventually became full-blown AIDS and caused him to die a premature
death. One can be rehabilitated from
alcohol and drugs, but many times the damage done to families and one’s
financial security cannot be repaired. Often
riotous living can leave us in a bad marriage—stuck with a horrible situation
we must endure or even stuck having to live alone the rest of our lives.
Let’s say we eventually become a Christian but put the decision off
until later in life. There may be
many consequences, depending on how we have lived before becoming a Christian.
We may never have a faithful spouse or children.
We may never have the chance to rear children in the nurture of the Lord.
We may never have the opportunity to serve as a deacon or elder or be the
wife of one of these valuable leaders. We
may have to make a career change or we may forever be handicapped trying to
continue in a less than desirable profession.
Let’s say we marry someone for a reason other than the right one, that
is, who and what they are spiritually. We
may have to endure a lifetime of troubles and battles, our children may be lost
because of it; in the end, we may even be drawn away and lost.
We can see that with every decision we make, there are consequences.
We likely could list consequences for all the decisions one by one.
Some of these consequences may be short lived while others may be
life-long—even eternal.
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