His Foolish Choice Cost Him His Life

I left home early one morning on a cloudless bright sunny day. I had errands to run in town. On the other side of town another indulged in the carnal desires of his flesh. Throwing caution to the end he walked closer and closer to the edge. Neither us had any idea our paths would cross twelve minutes later resulting in a collision and a fatality.

I drove listening to music out of our neighborhood in Runaway Bay. I turned left onto Highway 380 and crossed the bridge over the Bridgeport Lake lost in thought. Several miles away another lived on the edge. He danced with danger. He flirted with fatality. He put his life in harm's way and in the end it would cost him.

I arrived in Bridgeport and made my way through town turning onto highway 114. The fatal collision loomed only two minutes ahead. I saw him in the distance. He positioned himself right in the middle of the highway. As I drove closer, I ket thinking he saw me coming and would move. He did not. I honked my horn but he still did not move. I honked again and tried to swerve.

This time he tried to hurry out of the way. It was too late. I could not swerve enough to miss him. He did not hurry out the way quickly enough. Our paths collided. The thud of the impact reverberated all through my truck. My natural reaction was to close my eyes and grip the steering wheel tighter. I saw his lifeless body fall limply to the ground in my rearview mirror. I later discovered the impact damaged the front of my truck.

Why was he in the middle of the road? Especially on highway 114 as busy as the traffic is on that road. Why didn't he get out of the way? Why did he not heed the warning from horn? The victim chose to live on the edge. A foolish choice that in the end cost him his life. It cost me too.

I left home earlier that morning with no warning I would be involved in a fatal accident only twelve minute later. A tragic ending to a life.

I guess at this point I better clarify something. I did not hit another person. I hit a buzzard feasting on road kill in the middle of the highway. The impact broke the front grill of my truck and killed him. The last bite killed him. He saw me coming. His appetite for the raw flesh of whatever he ate ended up costing him his life.

I am sure that buzzard exuded in confidence. He had most assuredly avoided other vehicles that same morning. He thought he could take one more bite before soaring away. That foolish decision proved fatal. He probably did not have time to fully swallow that last bite before I hit him.

This reminds me of a scripture. Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV) 
⁷  Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.
⁸  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

People try and mock God all the time indulging in the desires of the flesh. They fornicate. Commit adultery. Pursue fantasies through pornography. They guzzle alcohol and dabble in drugs. For the most part they get away with it for a season. God sees all and knows all. Ever so often their sins catch up with them and the penalty is fatal in this life. Then there is another death, a spiritual death for unbelievers in the afterlife. 

I have preached two funerals of people I did not know personally who died of drug overdoses. Both were young men. Neither expected that last injection would be their last. Each year someone has one last drink for the road before slipping behind the wheel in a drunken stupor. They confidently start the ignition and pull out reminding themselves they made it home safely in the past. Only this time they kill someone and maybe even themselves. O, what a foolish decision sowing to the flesh can be. 

The forbidden taste of immoral lovers is savory until the truth is exposed. The cheaters are discovered. The fornication is found out. The flesh sowed forbidden pleasure but now reaps destruction. 

Choosing to indulge the flesh leads to corruption. That literally means to "perish, decay, and destroy." It may not look that way initially. People sin all the time. Most appear to get away with it without any ill effects. What they cannot see is the decay in their souls. They do not notice how sin never satisfies. The flesh always craves more. Nor do see the case building against them for eternal judgement and condemnation. 

The glutton wants more food. The alcoholic wants more drink. The marijuana smoker lives to get high again. The immoral want another sex partner or another steamy night with their lover. Hear this clearly. SIN WILL TAKE YOU FURTHER THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO GO. SIN WILL COST YOU  MORE THAN YOU EER WATNED TO PAY. 

Let's go back to that buzzard ferociously feeding in the middle of the highway. He kew imminent danger approached. He could not pull himself away. He had to have one more bite. Just one more nibble before escaping to safety. SIN TOOK HIM FURTHER THAN HE WANTED TO GO. He could not pull himself away. The desire for more took him further toward danger than his senses knew. That one last bite proved fatal. SIN WILL COST YOU MORE THAN YOU EEVER WANTED TO PAY. It cost the buzzard his life. it costs millions enteral damnation. 

Read soberly the words of Jesus. John 10:10 (ESV) 

¹⁰  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The thief, Satan, the Devil, Lucifer, the Accuser of the brethren has ambitions of taking out as many as he can. If he cannot get them before they believe in Jesus for salvation he will relentlessly try to to destroy their lives. He will kill as many lost as possible. he will steal as many as possible. He will tempt the saved and try to destroy and kill them as well.

WAKE UP! The very sin that lures us, baits us, draws us, entices us is also the sin that can destroy us. One toke and a person can get hooked. One drink and a person can be enslaved. One sexual encounter and a person can be in bondage. One click on the computer and a person can become addicted. 

Let us be on guard. Our adversary never rests. He deceives. He probes the weak and vulnerable. He has legions of demons at his command. He will oppose God and His followers to the very end. We must resist temptation in the strength of Jesus. Life and death hang in the balance. The stakes are too high. Eternal life or eternal damnation await. 

Choose Jesus. Choose holiness. Choose His righteousness. Choose the Holy Spirit over the flesh. For all of eternity you will be glad you did.