Good morning. I have begun a new teaching opportunity for the summer, teaching the Sr. High youth in Sunday School. The theme for the lessons will be Choices & Consequences. The visual aid that I will employ to introduce the subject is a simple funnel. I will ask the young people to imagine themselves within the funnel, and then to realize that the choices they are making will determine the direction they face and the end of the funnel they will be moving toward. If a person chooses poorly, then they will face the narrow end of the funnel. Those who choose well will face and move toward the expanding larger end. This represents the options they will have in life. Good choices mean the larger, expanding end is yours, and therefore your options are many. Poor choices now mean the smaller end is ahead of you, which means very few good and desirable options in life will be available.
I believe that this lesson represents a truth that is valid for all of us regardless of our age. Good choices mean many, good, and desirable options. Bad choices mean worse, and fewer options.
God’s Word shares insight into this truth:
For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. Colossians 3:25
The exception to this is for all who will come to Jesus in honest repentance, humbly asking and receiving His forgiveness:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
However, if you think that coming to the Lord is a “get out of hell free” card, meaning forgiveness in Christ is ours no matter what choices we continue to make, then think again:
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…Hebrews 10:26
We live in a culture that seems determined to minimize the consequences of poor choices and actions. God’s Word leads us to understand two things as they relate to this subject: 1. When you properly bring your sins to the Lord you will be forgiven. That is His promise to us in Jesus Christ. 2. If you believe and act in ways that are knowingly selfish and evil with no intention of change, you are closing yourself away from His forgiveness and will face the consequences of your choices-actions-sins.
Choose well today, tomorrow, and always. We all desire the best possible options in life, so let’s give it a chance!
Vern