Saturday, January 19, 2013
Leverage the Ramifications
The adorable and well-loved puppy sat with his nose
buried under his paws, whimpering. His sad,
watering eyes conveyed disappointment -- as though he had been betrayed. His heart still raced from the loud snap and
his tongue ached something terrible. This
mischievous pet had just experienced a disaster that was of his own making, but
he seemed to be putting the blame squarely on his owner. It should be noted that his owner had tried
to communicate the danger more than a dozen times. Every time the little fur ball had followed
his nose to the irresistible aroma of peanut butter, his owner had scurried to
the scene and waved his arms wildly as he hollered something urgent,
effectively shooing the canine away. Unfortunately, the persistent little pup was
not to be deterred by his owner's efforts to restrain him, so he snuck past the
guard and licked the mouse trap.
Truth be told, if anybody or anything had put
pressure on that part of the mouse trap they would have experienced the exact
same ramifications. It was also true that if the puppy had heeded his master's
warnings he would have not been hurt in the slightest.
So it is with the moral laws of the universe;
violate them and there will be ramifications.
There is one complicating factor -- often times the ramifications are
slow to manifest. As a result many times
we do not see the connection between our behavior and the results. For example
we may abuse our bodies for years before dealing with a resulting heath
issue. It seems that many of us ignore
God's shooing, violate His laws, and then blame God for being cruel when the
ramifications come back at us. We are
like the person (or nation) that overspends and then whines because they are
out of money. Life is full of causes and
effects; sowing and reaping.
·
Some are fools [made ill] because
of the way of their transgressions and are afflicted because of their
iniquities.
·
Some of you were sick because
you'd lived a bad life, your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
·
Fools because of their
transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
The
good news is that there are also good ramifications for those who abide by
God's laws. For example, Jesus said, "Give and it shall be given unto you,
pressed down, shaken together and running over." (Luke 6:38) Once again, the ramifications are not always
obvious or quickly experienced. It must
also be pointed out that many of the ramifications are eternal rather than
temporal. In addition, often the results
of our right actions benefit people other than ourselves. When people obey God, the whole world
benefits.
The
lesson learned is that instead of sneaking around, trying to outwit the God of
the universe, we can cooperate with His rules and leverage the
ramifications -- we can make God's laws work on our
behalf. Don't kill, don't steal, don't
commit adultery... and get your tongue caught in the trap. Rather, love your
neighbor, be faithful to your family, give generously, seek peace, worship God
lavishly... and enjoy an abundant life. Some
of the abundance will be in physical and financial bounty, but most of it will
be in healthy relationships, nights of good sleep and a clear conscience. A word to the wise: Obey God and leverage the
ramifications.
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