Cloak and Dagger: The Consequences Are

Recently the salt in our water softener ran out, and we didn't notice it until it was too late. By the time we realized the salt was gone, our shower and sink had started to turn orange, our skin was all yucky, our white clothes were dingy, and it tasted pretty gross. Right now we are still dealing with getting our water back to normal, because it's still slightly orange. This is the consequence of not remembering to put salt in the softener.

As we deal with this, it got me to thinking about areas in our lives that we just let go of and slip away. How many things in your life do you let go and forget about, only to have to deal with the repercussions afterward?

When I let my Bible reading time go to the wayside and forget to fill my spirit with the salt of Jesus, I have horrible attitude and rebellion problems. Yea... me=not perfect! When I let my prayers and conversation with God go and don't spend time talking, pouring out, and thanking Him, I start to worry about things in my life. I get anxious, and I get irritable. When I let things go undone and procrastinate in my life, I get to my deadlines and get frustrated.

When we let things go, we end up in a predicament because we did not prevent it, we end up paying the consequences of our actions. My Mama has always said that the best way to make sure things don't go wrong, is to prevent them from being able to go wrong. If we would have checked the salt in the softener the week before, it would not have gone completely out. We would not have an ugly, orange shower and sink, our clothes would be bright white, our skin would be soft, and we would be able to drink the water. Since we didn't check we will now have to do a hard scrubbing on the shower and sinks, I will have to get some whitening for the clothes, we will have to use extra lotion to make our skin soft again, and we had got a water fountain.

It is the same thing with every aspect of your life, especially your spiritual life. When you let go of doing things the way God wants them done and you are not spending time with Him and talking with Him, you will have to pay the consequences. I have found that when sin takes root in my life, it is much harder to get rid of than many physical things. It is going to be much harder for me to get rid of the sin in my life, than it would be for me to scrub the shower.

It is wrong to "let things go" and have to pay for them later. Not only is it wrong, but it can mess up our lives. When you don't pay a bill that is due, you still have to pay the bill, but you also have to pay a late fee, and it will mess up your budget because you are late, and it will run over into next month. When I wash and dry laundry and put them into baskets, instead of folding them and putting them away, the consequences are that is we have baskets of laundry all over, the kids dig in them and get them all over, and when someone needs clothes, they can't go to their drawers to get them. I end up playing catch up because I didn't do what I was supposed to! Playing catch up is not good! It not only costs you money, but also time and sanity.
We need to use preventative actions to ensure that things are done in the right way and right time, because when we don't there are consequences to our actions.
When we sin and disobey, there are consequences. Those consequences are very grave. With both of those, the consequences are our life:

Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Ephesians 6:1-3
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth."

If we turn from our sin and be obedient to our parents, we will have life and not death.
There are consequences to every action that we make. Even Isaac Newton knew this. In his Third Law, he says, "To every action, there is a reaction". Every action you make has a consequence. Whether it is a good one or bad one will depend upon your actions.

Jesus said the same thing:

Galatians 6:7
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

We need to make sure we are sowing what we are supposed to. When we are obedient to our parents, we not only receive the blessing of long life, but we are also setting an example to those who see our obedience.

Just know that when you sow or do anything, no matter if its good or bad, you will reap that. If you talk about someone behind their back, someone will talk about you behind your back. It's just life. When you hack into someone's account, you will be hacked into. When you lie, you will be lied to. Now those are all bad things that some people do, when you sow good things, you will reap good things. Like when you sow kindness to others, you will reap kindness. When you sow love, you will reap love.

When you sow good things, you are not the only one reaping either. The person you are showing kindness will show kindness to others. Let's start a trickle down effect!

I am going to try and start doing things when they need to be done to prevent catastrophes from happening when I don't!

Girls, let's do what we are supposed to, when we are supposed to, and let's sow good things, so that we don't have to pay the consequences of bad things. Let's follow after what God wants for us! He does not want bad things for us, He wants good!