"...There is ‘a price to pay’… for failing to OBEY. God, alone, knows when ‘the price’ will be EXACTED..."

CHOICE… As humans… do we really have a choice?  Or course…  Because we are made ‘in the Image of God’… This, alone… gives us ‘free-will.’  We’re told… in Genesis: 16-17 - And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Also in …. Genesis 4:5-7 - But on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

So, YES... all of us have FREEDOM… to do whatever we please…SIN and SHAME, or LOVE and OBEDIEDENCE…. CHOOSE what you like.  Once we get past the Obedience requirement… We NO-LONGER have a choice… there are NO variables.

If we CLAIM to believe in God… that His Son, Jesus Christ, died on the CROSS for ‘our sins,’ and we care about where we spend ETERNITY… then, we don’t have a choice… or better said… our choice is very clear to us.

When Jesus told us to LOVE our neighbor as ourselves… there’s NO-WIGGLE ROOM…no alternative. Jesus is PRECISE. He specifically says… ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

The Bible characters were clearly told, and warned, to do this…and not that…. As FAILING to OBEY, will bring severe consequences. God doesn’t tell us WHEN, but only WHY. He is ‘always specific’ as to His instructions… but ‘seldom-clear’ as to repercussions will transpire.

There is ‘a price to pay’… for failing to OBEY. God, alone, knows when ‘the price’ will be EXACTED…. Though He gives us a ‘long-leash’ … with plenty of room …to WANDER.  But if we think we ‘have all the time in the world’…then we might be in for a BIG SURPRISE … come ‘judgement day.’

By His Grace…  He is the ‘God of Second Chances.’ We have, only, to ACCEPT Him, SEEK His Forgiveness, and Repent of our sins… against Him, and our fellow-man. The SIN, then, is forgotten as far as ‘east is from west,’ but…. The consequence of ‘that sin’… is still awaiting payment.

Some may think… that God ‘doesn’t have time for this, or that’… or it’s not important. EVERYTHING is IMPORTANT to God…. Even, the “smallest-of-details.” Matthew 12:36 -  "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."  He will judge each of us on our… good and bad.

God will judge men even for the wasted words they have spoken. How much more shall God judge those who utter hurtful words, or hateful words, or words that inflict injury to our neighbor? Words are very powerful. Both wars and friendships have been started and ended by miss-placed words.

Let us be CAUTIOUS of the ‘acts of love’ we do… If it is not done in the Name and Honor of God… it has no value. Much of what we ‘think of as charity,’ is misguided, and without God. Therefore… Be PRUDENT in your CHOCE... as we are warned in Proverbs 22:2-3 - The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all. The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, But the naive go on, and are punished for it. The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life.…  

Blessings…as we all… CHOOSE… Jesus over satan… good over evil... Cjlb…..1/15/2018.