Consequences

It was just one apple—one bite and then sharing. How could that be something bad? It certainly isn’t sin, whatever that is. That snake had made the fruit sound so wonderful, but now…these consequences.

When Eve took that one bite of apple all those years ago, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t thinking about the consequences of her disobedience that would last for centuries. If she had, she might have thought twice. If she had considered all the pain she brought upon women in labor, the losses suffered in leaving the garden, the work it placed on their shoulders, and the separation from God, there may have been at least a minute of reconsidering.

What about you and me? Do we consider the consequences of those “little” sins we do each and every day? Do we consider how it affects our mates, our children, our grandchildren for centuries to come? If we did would we decide that little sin wasn’t worth the consequences we place on those who follow after us?

Stretching the truth on a story, going along with a friend to a movie you know will put ungodly thoughts into your mind, sneaking just one more peek at that ad on the Internet, taking that sip of a drink that changes our thinking processes. Maybe you’re thinking, She must be talking about somebody else, not me. I may not know your list of sins but God does. He knows not only the ones we actually do but also the thoughts we have about doing them beforehand. Is a thought a sin? Or does it only count if we’re actually doing them?

Man, I wish I was perfect but I’m not. I sin. I know what sin is and I know the consequences. But when I think of sin in the arena of consequences upon my children, my grandchildren, and their children after me it puts a whole new twist on life. I don’t want to cause my children pain or my grandchildren to go away from God. Will they see Christ in me every day? Will they see Him when I get angry—not specifically at them but just at the stuff of life?

Precious Father, I pray your Holy Spirit will convict me the minute I have a thought that is sinful. Prevent me from taking action on that thought and bring me to a whole new level of consciousness about what sin is. Remind me of Eve: her choices and who had to pay.