BBD 12.01.05 Acting Badly
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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12.01.05
Acting Badly
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, "Come with us,
let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent
without cause; let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those
who go down to the Pit; we shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we
shall fill our houses with spoil; cast in your lot among us, let us all have
one purse"- My son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from
their path; For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird; but they lie in
wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the
ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its
owners. - Proverbs 1:10-19.
We often talk about when bad things happen to good people, however, have you
noticed how often bad things happen to those who are involved in what they
should not be involved in? Here is an example: Christina Goodenow had just
won one million dollars in the lottery with a one-dollar ticket when she was
arrested. She was arrested because she had a stolen credit card and she used
that credit card to buy the lottery ticket. Sadly, for Christina, the ticket
was then voided because it was bought with a stolen credit card.
Here's two more examples: Things really deteriorated for Sonja Aguirre after
she parked in a handicapped parking space (She is not handicapped.). While
giving Sonja a ticket an officer discovered that Sonja also had 265 pounds
of marijuana in her vehicle with an estimated value of half a million
dollars. A similar situation occurred with two men who were driving a
vehicle with an expired license plate. Only when they were stopped in
Orlando, Florida for the expired plate they had 550 pounds of marijuana in
their vehicle.
I do not have any surveys to back up what I am going to say, however, I
think that it is true from my own observations. If you want to raise the
probability of something bad happening in your life begin to do things, you
know you should not do on a regular basis. Such as: park in handicapped
parking spaces without a permit, or drive your car around with an expired
license tag, or buy that lottery ticket with a stolen credit card - and
then, see what happens. What are you doing when you willfully engage in what
you know to be wrong? Solomon tells us in Proverbs that, ".they lie in wait
for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives."
Yes, bad things do happen to good people. However, if you want to get on the
fast track to bad things happening to you just begin to do those things you
know you should not do. That will surely speed up the process of bringing
those bad things about in your life.
On the other hand, I believe that Solomon is telling us that we can avoid
much evil in our lives by simply doing what is right. When bad things happen
to people acting badly it may very well be the result of their bad actions.
Solomon would say to you today just what he said so many years ago when his
words were originally written down, "My son, if sinners entice you, do not
consent."
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