How can you go somewhere,
if haven't been somewhere? How can you do something if you haven't done
anything? Experience counts for a lot. Otherwise you are just being academic.
Without any practical experience they are just thoughts and imaginations.
They may be based on
reality, good fiction usually is. Of
course they will have an impact on a weak mind. They believe fiction is totally
true.
Someone who is not
willing to go somewhere, someone who is looking for an excuse not to go, someone
who wants to hear no or not to go, some people call that being accountable.
They gather together to do nothing but what they have been doing for ages,
thinking they got it right finally, and go nowhere. After all they finally got
it right, know the way, and encourage others to do the same. That sounds like a
click to me. That sounds like some social club. That is perfectly alright with
me but to me that sounds like bondage. I want to be, I need to be free from the
chains that bind me.
Some people believe if I
were free that I will fall into sin, or some trap. Well I don’t have a problem
if they feel that way for them, but I have a Savior and a Deliverer Jesus Christ.
Don’t you wish everybody did? What I can’t deal with is people who don’t have a
Savior and Deliverer and feel that they have to be my Savior and Deliverer. Get
a life!
Some people talk about what
they would like to do but don't ever do it. And they probably never had any
intention of doing it. Later in life they often remark, "If I had my life
to live over again I would do things differently." Their lives are full of
regrets. Well recently I regret some things like having children and
grandchildren. When remarking to myself I would say, “I would be rich and have
no need of them.” My buddy said that they are crumb snatchers and never had any
children of his own in spite of his mothers complaints.
But like they would say
in Church they say if wasn’t for my children and divorces, I would not have the
beautiful, faithful, help meets that I had
and have. I don’t know if this old sayings fits exactly here but here it
goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Do they say that in Church?
I remember a couple of
guy's I knew at work, who would sit around and talk about what they wanted to
do. I took it to heart and believed them. But then one of the guys came up to
me some time later and said, "We talk about doing things but you actually do
them!" I never understood that type of thinking. I have done a lot of
things that sounded good to me, and some of them may have been bad according to
others, but I was driven to do so. I have no regrets, never have, and I
appreciate all the things I have been able to do and experience. Okay, back to
Church. They have made me into the person I am today. And I have precious memories
I'll never forget. Some of them I can't share with others because they have
issues.
What is a consequence
anyway? Some people live in fear of consequences. As if consequences are bad.
They don't want to suffer consequences. Well that may be what they say, but it is
not what they really believe. They have suffered many a consequences like I
have. Now, they don't want others to suffer like they suffered (or liked), or
other consequences. I ask you, is that really fair? Obviously the consequences
they faced were worth whatever benefit they may or may not have received.
Otherwise they would not have done it.
Why all of a sudden are
they tormented by their consequences? Why are they all of a sudden on a band
wagon to stop consequences? We used to teach that we learn from our mistakes.
We were taught that misery loves company. Maybe that is why I don’t have much
company. Maybe it is because I learned so many old sayings. We try to be there
for them when they fail. Or we watched
to see if they could
recover on their own, stand on their own feet, become independent. Now, some
people teach fear instead, dependency, and they are connected by their navel’s
in an unhealthy codependency.
As a computer programmer
I was able to use my skills and confidence in recovering from consequences. To
be good at writing programs you have to be able to get into trouble, stay calm and
collective under fire, to get out of trouble successfully, and to get into
trouble with your boss for being successful.
Selah.
Each time you made a code
change you suffered consequences, it would not work. After many attempts of
trial and error you finally end up with a program that runs successfully. I
could not have become a programmer if I was not willing to suffer consequences,
if I could not handle error, if I could not handle criticism. It was the most stressful
job I ever had in my life. But since High School all to be is a computer
programmer and I got promoted to it.
Consequences, consequences,
and there are more consequences. There are good consequences and there bad
consequences. You have to take the good with the bad. It was hard on my mental
health, as consequence, but it was good financially and for my wife too who
became a computer programmer as a good consequence. There was plenty of travel
for me anywhere I wanted to go on the U.S. continent. She used to be in the computer staying after
class with me while I played with the computer. This was 1971.
What makes it so ironic
is that these same people understand that you will suffer consequences if you
do good or bad. And they think they know what is good or bad. So they get on a
band wagon to keep others away from certain things. Even when the things they
are trying to steer others from, they have done, and it worked out for good for
them! I don't get it. Why are they making such a big deal about it.
It seems like there may
be 1000 things that are not approved of but they harp about only 10. And these
10 things are usually not approved of by the media. If one of the other 990
becomes approved of by the media, they won’t openly discuss it negatively. And
to some, they now become acceptable to them also. They say things like,
"Oh, I never thought of them like that before. Let's invite them in and
treat them like the media say's to treat them." And they are not even
concerned about those consequences.
I discussed this with a Band
Wagoner who understood what I said, and agreed with me. But he still could not
get off the band wagon. Someone in his accountability group gave him a job to
do. And no one else wanted to do it. And they give him plenty of encouragement.
I guess he does not think there will be any consequences for his current
behavior, either to himself or those he is trying to influence. Or perhaps he
is doing it in spite of the consequences because he thinks he is doing good and
not bad. I asked him if he felt like a hypocrite teaching others not to do what
he did? He said a little.
He said he has already
seen some changes in others. One person said they are not going to ever do
something. I felt so sorry for that person. That person now has a fear that was
not there before. That person may miss out on opportunities because of fears. I
have talked to people who are still in therapy over the age of forty, with
seemingly no hope for recovery, because of fears someone else laid on them.
I finally told this
friend of mine that any preacher who is worth a hill of beans, is someone who
suffered consequences, and overcame them. Who was not afraid to experience
life, to take it by the horns, to do the wrong thing while trying to do the
right thing. They can now relate to a whole lot of people. They are just one of
us. They don't just present information they have memorized without really understanding
what it is all about. They can talk about what they have lived.
It is one thing to hear
someone describe the taste of a lemon who read about lemons and saw pictures of
lemons. It is a totally different thing to hear someone describe the taste of a
lemon who has eaten them for years. Now lemons are good, how much more so can
this same person describe what he or she went through and no longer has to,
than the person who heard or read about it. Hey, all I had to do was and sugar
to my lemonade.
Who is more grateful, the
person who no longer has to, or the person who never did? The person with
precious memories or the one with regrets for what they haven't done? The
person who has little to be forgiven for has little to be thankful or grateful
for. The person who has a lot to be forgiven for has a lot to be thankful or
grateful for. Because they can look back and see the mercy's of God throughout
their whole lives.
They enjoyed their lives.
They now have joy because God has healed all the wounds of the past, and they
see them in a different light. Perhaps they have even been a servant of the LORD
unawares, and were being prepared to serve Him even now.
They have an
understanding that can only be acquired through experience. They are lemon
eaters, and other lemon eaters can shout and rejoice with them, for they truly know,
and understand, and, have a lot to be grateful and thankful for.
Not only are that, but a
lot of the things we experienced, whether seemingly bad or not, we have good
memories that we can enjoy the rest of our lives, and share with others. The
LORD has truly been gracious and kind to us. He told us not to do it, we could not
help but do it anyway, and he never left us. And yes, sometimes we had to
suffer consequences.
So I told my friend, it
is not avoiding consequences that gets us in, it is being born again. If you
are not born again then there is a consequence you really need to be concerned
about. If you are not born again, and you avoid every consequence, you will end
up in the "Lake Of Fire" for eternity. Maybe you should emphasize
that.
Here is poem I wrote
about avoiding consequences:
There was this chicken,
who so wanted to fly
Who for hours on end,
would stare at the sky
Even a long after, the
birds had passed by
Who told chicken friends,
this is what I will try
They said if you jump,
you are going to die
Undaunted and on the
roof, was going to a try
There was no one else
around, to be there and deny
There was no one there to
stop, his determination to fly
Success, success, like
the birds was not shy.
Exclaiming the entire flight,
nothing fails but a try
At Church the next
Sunday, it was time to testify
The other chickens became
so happy, some even started to cry
The choir sang the song,
"Lord, please don't pass me by"
The preacher so inspired
preached, "You can make if you try"
Some ran down the isles
as if they could fly
One rolled on the floor,
no shame and not shy
There were some pew warmers,
that didn't want to pry
Just sitting there a
watching as all of this went by
There were a few without
a clue, just wondering why
The organist played that
tune, the one sure to satisfy
Not want to hinder or to
nullify
Oh the joy and what a feeling,
that lifted them on high
They had good Church that
morning, nobody can deny
But alas the service was
over, and they had to say good bye
Even though the risk paid
off, even time of testify
No one else went near the
barn, no one else wanted to try
Each Sunday they enjoy
the service, they go and that is why
But to take a risk at
flying, they will not even try
For deep within their
hearts, they don't really want to fly
Flying is too risky,
perhaps someone told them why
The price of possible failure,
for them is much too high
To
them it is good to be a chicken, and it's better to deny
