Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Look Before You Leap

Have you ever made a decision and only later realized how much the decision cost you? How about the worker who was talking about cheating the company he works for only to find out that his boss is right behind him? Or what about the woman who racks up a huge credit line on her family’s credit card only to find that her family can’t pay the bills at the end of the month? Consequences may not always be immediate or severe, but they will come when we put our own desires first.


God told Moses to “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out water” (Numbers 20:8-12). Moses instead struck the rock twice with his staff. God told Moses that he and Aaron would not enter the promised land because of their disobedience. Talk about a huge disappointment after wandering in the desert for 40 years! Esau gave up his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34)...talk about buyer’s remorse! The prodigal son took his inheritance to live the good life in the city only to lose all of his inheritance and long to go home to be a servant for his father (Luke 15:11-32). All of these scenarios show us what can happen when we leap before we look.


Luke 14:28 says “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?” It is easy to criticize others for failing to plan for the end result at the beginning of a process. Let us learn from our own mistakes (and others’) and look at the potential consequences of our actions before we leap.

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