Read the paper, listen to radio, or watch TV lately? The Governor of Illinois wants to sell the vacant Senate seat of President-elect Obama to the highest bidder. And yet after he is arrested he wishes to stay in office. Auto-workers and auto executives want to continue to make unrealistic salaries while building a product fewer and fewer Americans want to buy. NFL players violate league policy on banned substances and go to court to remove the prescribed penalties for their violation.
When did America become a “Consequence Free Zone?” A CFZ might be paraphased as, “Let me do whatever I want but you make sure I don’t suffer any consequences”. The Governor refuses to resign even thought he has been arrested. Auto workers and executives want a federal bail out so they can continue to reap money while operating a failing business. The auto workers this week refused to accept any concessions in compensation and we won’t even mention private plane rides to Washington D.C. to ask for handouts. Football players admit their violations but refuse to accept the consequences.
Don’t get me started on people who bought homes they couldn’t afford…I already wrote on that one. When did America become do whatever feels good, works for you, fulfills your dreams and don’t worry…America is “A Consequence Free Zone.” As one commentator wrote, “Profit is Private, and Loss is now Public.” Did I miss a referendum, a vote on this?
As a pastor I am very familiar with sinners wanting to be exempt from the consequences of their sin. Many people suffer as a result of sinful decisions in their lives and question why God has not spared them the consequences of that decision. I myself am not immune to this desire. Nevertheless, the truth of God’s Word is sin has consequences. Our first parents in Eden learned this lesson painfully. They literally chose to eat themselves out of house and home.
Ezekiel 18:4 speaks of death as the consequence of sin. God has no understanding of a consequence free zone. When you and I die, and we will, then there is the proof of my last statement.
What is God doing about all this? He loves us and He acted. God chose to accept our consequences as His own. He loves us so much as to to die our death, to suffer our consequence. That is the beauty of the Gospel story. Our actions are not consequence free. Instead, our hope is of a consequence transfer…from me to Him.
If He has taken my consequences upon Himself, then how ought I live now? I can live making the same wrong decisions, try to avoid the consequences, and complain when I cannot. Or I can instead live a life of gratitude, a life of better choices and decisions. I can live a life which demonstrates my love for such a gracious God. This is my choice.
How about you? What is your response to a consequence transfered life?
