From the Pastor,

Pam and I once heard the great author, Gordon MacDonald, speak at a Minister’s Conference where he said (my paraphrase) “inflict as much pain as you can in your practice sessions so that the actual game or event will be a joy-filled pleasure.”

Peter is dealing with the exact opposite in today’s Scripture text. The false teachers he is giving great warning to were encouraging Christians to indulge in so much gluttonous pleasure without realizing they were leading them into immense amounts of pain.

I love the last verse in Jeremiah 5. One translation asks, “what will be the end of it?” This is a great question to ask for any journey upon which we embark. Where is this trail leading me? At the end, will I be closer to fulfilling the will of God or further away? The consequences of our poor choices could be averted IF we would simply look down the road.

Here’s an example: a wise Jewish man was sitting on a train, and a young man sitting across from him asked him what time it was. He didn’t answer. Thinking he wasn’t heard, the young man asked louder, “Sir, could you please tell me what time it is?” Again, no answer. So for the 3rd time, the young man persisted, “Sir, excuse me, can you not hear me or are you refusing to answer?” “I’m refusing to answer,” came the reply. “Might I ask why?” the young man inquired.

“Sure, it’s because I am looking down the road, and if I answer you, we might strike up a conversation, and then as we sit and chat, I might take a liking to you and invite you to my house for dinner. At dinner, you might notice how beautiful my daughter is and want to date her. Then possibly, you would come and ask for her hand in marriage…but why would I want her to marry a young man who can’t even afford to own a watch?”

The moral of the story is that we all need to learn how to look down the road. That’s why we study the Bible, and history, so that we don’t have to make the same mistakes as others. We need to constantly ask ourselves, “what will be the consequences of my actions?” Let’s take a closer look…

Blessings,

Randy & Pam

Kid Zone with Pastor Mike Husli