Saturday, March 15, 2014

Actions have Consequences


This past week I was “struck” with the thought that ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!  This revelation seemingly fell onto my head from the sky.  As I was completing my daily chore of putting out hay, I pulled my tractor up to the gate.  I lifted my hayfork up so that I might get closer to the gate and not let cows get from one side to the other as I opened the gate and pulled through.  I opened the gate and hurriedly pulled my tractor through.  I then hopped off to shut the gate and was thinking about how much longer my dwindling hay supply would last.  I stepped back onto my tractor and started toward the barn to park it.  Comparing the number of days left until the grass starts growing against how much hay I have left was occupying the conscience part of my mind.  My mental mathematics was interrupted by the sound of wood cracking.  I quickly realized that I had left my hayfork elevated and was passing under a large oak tree.  My next big mistake was stopping when I realized my first big mistake.  I had barely come to a stop when I felt a heavy strike to the left side of my head that almost knocked me off of my tractor and definitely knocked the breath out of me.  I grunted and groaned and thought bad words.  I eventually got myself together enough to pull my tractor into the barn and then stagger into the house.  Jill got me an icepack for my head and a heating pad for my shoulder.  I loaded up on aleve and Tylenol and laid on the couch thinking about my actions and my painful consequence.

 

The bible tells us about actions and consequences.  Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord”.   So our action is sin, and our consequence is death.  The only thing that saves us from this death is a gift offered to us through Jesus.

 

Another biblical example is Galations 6:9.  Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in DUE SEASON we shall reap if we don’t lose heart”.  So in this instance our action is doing good and the consequence is that we will reap a harvest. 

 

I feel that God has laid Galations 6:9 on my heart as a theme for our Due Unto Others mission trip for 2014.  Our theme will be “I’m preparing for DUE SEASON”!  The Due Unto Others team will continue to press forward doing the most good that we can for the people of Uganda.  All the while, we know that God will produce a harvest of changed lives, at some point.

 

My physical wounds are starting to heal.  I still have a little pain in my neck, but I am actually lucky that I did not break my neck.  My boys like to give me a hard time.  They say that I should not be so wimpy because what hit me in the head was a “twig”.  To prove my manliness, I went out with a luggage scale and weighed this monster that hit me on the head.  It weighed 55.4 lbs with one part of the branch still touching the ground. 

 


I think we as parents must pay attention to our actions.  We are leading our families.  We can do this purposefully or unwittingly.  I encourage you to make your consequences a “harvest” because you have done good and not “death” because of sinful actions.

Please pray for our Due Unto Others team as we prepare to head for Uganda May 24th.  We still have a couple of spots left for a few people to go the first 2 weeks that we are there.  This would be May 24th-June 6th.  Please email me at dueunto@gmail.com and I can give you more information about logistics and expenses.  We also have some specific needs for this trip that you can see in my previous blog.

Preparing for DUE SEASON!

 

Jay