TOO LATE! – face the consequences

 

Too Late

An eagle was perched on a massive block of ice, in the waters heading towards Niagara Falls. The swift current carried the ice and its majestic passenger closer to the edge of the great precipice and the eagle continued feeding on the carcass.

The cries of other birds warned the eagle of the danger which lay ahead but to no avail.  After all, the eagle had great and powerful wings and was perfectly capable of flying from the block of ice at any time he chose. He could stay until the last moment. He was strong!

 

Suddenly the edge of the great falls was only a few feet away, so the eagle spread its enormous wings to mount up over the impending doom . . . . . only to realise that his claws had become frozen to the cake of ice.  He flapped his wings, but his claws were firmly encased in the ice. He was trapped and the torrent of water rushed the block of ice – and the eagle – over the great falls.

None of us is immune to the consequences of our actions.

The eagle was so engrossed in feeding from the carcass that it didn’t realise its claws were being enclosed in the ice.

Alcoholics, drug addicts, pornography addicts, gamblers and many others tell us they never set out to become what they became.  They THOUGHT they could stop when they wanted to, but became trapped in their habit, just as the eagle became trapped in the ice.  The school bully, uncorrected in his behaviour, is likely to become a wife-beater, a child abuser, a thug and maybe even a murderer.  The child shop-lifter, uncorrected, is likely to become a petty thief and “advance” to be a hardened criminal.

The time to stop these bad and destructive behaviours is before they get a hold (better still before they start).  The response of “Boys will be boys” or “He’s going through a phase. It will pass” is NOT good enough. The EAGLE could easily have removed itself from danger at an earlier stage but was too engrossed in feeding.

Christians . . .

None of us is immune to the consequences of sin.

The time to stop a bad habit is before it gets a hold. Each participation will make the next one easier – and each participation will also make it harder to stop.  Our response to sin must be decisive and immediate.  Unlike the eagle, we have NO POWER of our own to resist, but we DO HAVE the omnipotent power of God and when we call on Him, we are victorious.

What would you think of a doctor who, on discovering a malignant tumour in your body told you to take two aspirins and you’d be fine?

His response would not be appropriate nor would it be acceptable.  You would want that tumour removed and likely the first question you would ask after surgery is “Did you get it all?  Is it completely gone?”

Thankfully, when our response to sin is correct and we confess and repent, we can KNOW it is COMPLETELY GONE – “as far as the east is from the west”

BUT is our response to sin sometimes as inappropriate as the doctor’s?