Consequences

My jury service is completed.  A verdict has been rendered and the judge will pronouce sentence this morning.  The defendant will learn the consequences of the choices he made.

That's a word that has been reverberating in my thoughts since I left the courthouse yesterday.  Consequences.  There are always consequences.  To every choice.  Sometimes consequences are immediate, and sometimes they are delayed.  But there are always consequences.  Sometimes they are good, and sometimes not so good.  But there are always consequences.

And consequences don't only come to hardened criminals.  Or to repeat offenders.  Or to drug dealers. 

Consequences come to all of us.  If you're foolish enough to stick your hand into a hornet's nest, you will get stung.  If you don't pay attention to things like routine auto maintenance and you never remember to have the oil changed in your car, there will be consequences!  If your car sits in the garage for months and is never started, the battery will go dead.  If you're gluten intolerant, but you decide to eat pancakes any way, you will suffer the consequences.  If you choose to spend your day on the computer playing Words with Friends, you won't get much else done.

Whatever the choice, there's a consequence.  And choices made repeatedly become habits.  That isn't necessarily a bad thing.

As an example, if you begin to make good, healthy choices when it comes to the foods you eat, and if you continue to do this, your physical health will likely improve.  If you continue to do this over time, you will form a habit of eating good, healthy food.  That's a good consequence.

But if you pursue, over time, a course of eating junk food and food filled with chemicals and additives, your physical health will decline.  In either case, a habit is formed, and in both cases there are consequences to your physical health.

The same can be said of your spiritual health.  If you make a choice on a daily basis to spend time in the Word of God and in prayer, there will be positive ramifications for your spiritual health.  As you continue to make this choice, your spiritual health will improve.  You will draw closer to your Lord.  His Word will be hidden in your heart.  And as you continue to make this choice, a habit is formed.  A spiritual discipline.  A consequence.  One that deepens your spiritual relationship with the Lord and that will, in turn, have an effect on all other relationships as well.

If you haven't already done so, why not begin today?  Make a choice that will have a positive consequence for you and for all those around you as well.  Spend some time reading the Word of God.  Establish a habit of daily time in God's Word.  You'll be glad you did!

"I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways; I wil delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."  (Psalm 119:15-16 ESV)