A
Florist received multiple orders for bouquets. One order went to a young
housewife on her birthday. The other order went to a young mother on the birth
of her first child. Somehow the two cards got mixed.
Consequently, the young housewife received
an unplanned birthday card that announced, “Congratulations. Hope the baby is
doing fine.”
The other card arrived unscheduled at
the home of the new mother and her new child. Her unsolicited greeting declared,
“Twenty-seven; hope you have many more!”
Life would be far less traumatic if more
of life’s mistakes could be viewed as humorously as most will see this story.
How often did I as a pastor hear some anguished parent express concern for an
adult child that refused to attend church as regularly as that parent would
like. Yet, I knew that same parent seldom attended church during that child’s
formative years, if ever.
The unfortunate truth is we reap as
we sow. I have now lived long enough to understand that life permits us to
choose to travel through life on a various levels of highways.
For
the more discerning, there is a high road to be gained with some effort. There
is also a low road for those who want to drift along, or who do not wish to
choose something that requires choosing to become something beyond the norm.
Natural consequences follow each and
every choice we make, or refuse to make. Moreover, God never forces us to
choose one road over another. He may nudge us along by allowing some circumstance
to encourage us this way or that, but when we make our choice, he allows us that
freedom--even when it breaks his heart. The poet expressed it anonymously:
But to
every man there openeth
A
High Way and a low,
And
every way decideth
The
Way his soul shall go.
People and circumstances will
heavily influence our lives, but when all is said and done, we make the final
decision as to what we will do with our circumstances. In effect, our lives are
just about what we want them to be. However; after we have decisionally
determined what we will do with our lives, we also have the privilege of reaping
the results of our choices:
For
those who seek the answer
In houses, lands, and rings,
Will
someday find that empty things
Are just as empty filled with
things.
-Anon-
Mistakes are the trademark of
humanity and we each make our share of them. Nonetheless, those daily decisions
we make provide the seed that produce tomorrow’s harvest. This is
walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com asking “What kind of crop are you planting for
harvest?”
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