A New Devotion - Behavior Has Consequences

Here's a new devotion that I wrote. It's based on the passage below. You can find a recording of this devotion at the bottom of the page.

Hebrews 3:12-19 [Contemporary English Version]

My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today.” If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. The Scriptures say,

“If you hear his voice today,

don't be stubborn

    like those who rebelled.”

Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? Who were the people that made God angry for 40 years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith.

Behavior Has Consequences

When I was a kid, I loved going to the circus. You see, every year, the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus would come to Norfolk. And even though both the Shriners and the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Baily shows also passed through town, for me, the Cole Brothers were different. You see, not only was Clyde Beatty still taming lions when I was young, his circus was under a tent. And there was a side show. And after it was over, dad would buy us these braided whips as souvenirs. I’ll tell you, going to the circus was a big deal. 

And we went every year with one exception. We didn’t go when I was ten, and looking back, it was all my fault. You see, my Sunday School class at Ocean View Presbyterian Church had six students, five girls and me. Of course, looking back, that should have been no big deal, but for a pre-adolescent, it was horrible. And so one Sunday, I simply refused to go in, and no amount of coaxing would move me from my spot in the hall outside the class door. And I’ll tell you, all would have been fine, if my teacher hadn’t called my Dad as a last resort. He came, we talked and I explained how I just couldn’t face being the only boy in a class full of girls. And as I remember, he was very calm when he told me that he was giving me a choice: I could either suck it up and go into the room or I could stay in the hall. But if I stayed in the hall, I wouldn’t be going with him, my brother and my sister when the circus came to town in a couple of weeks. The decision was mine. Well, when he said it, I assumed he was bluffing, and so I decided stay in the hall. And in the next couple of weeks, I learned two things: first, that my father didn’t bluff and second, that behavior has consequences.

And I think that’s the same lesson the writer of Hebrews was getting at in the passage we just read. You see, even though God loved his people after he led them out of Egypt, they still faced the consequences for their sin, disobedience and faithlessness. For them, this was just the way it was, even though they had folks to warn them not to be so stubborn and rebellious. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s as true for us as it was for them. You see, although we can trust that God always loves us and his love will never change, he doesn’t enable us to avoid the implications that come from the choices that we make. Just like me choosing to stand in the hall or the people of Israel acting like rebels in the wilderness, God doesn’t whitewash the choices we make or the actions we take. The piper will be paid. And for that reason, it just makes sense for us to do whatever is necessary to make the best decisions we can make, because behavior has consequences, whether we like them or not.