“Get rid of the old yeast, that you
may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are…” 1 Corinthians 5:7a
I knew that I had messed up and there
was no getting out of it. Being the
daring adventurer, I decided to go off the path, hike where I wanted to
go. That is when I found myself face to
face with a mountain lion. Without
meaning to, I strayed too close to her den of cubs. This mother was out to protect her little
ones, even if that meant bloodshed. My
heart lodged itself into my throat.
Sweat was coursing down the side of my brow. My mouth was drier than any desert. I started seeing faces of family and friends
flash before me. The question wasn’t if I was going to die, but how?
Would this mother lunge right at my throat? Would she swing around behind me and grasp
the back of my neck in her powerful jaws?
Would she slash me with her ferocious claws? How would my fate be served?
All
I could do was keep facing her as I backed away, slowly. My hands held out in front of me, hoping that
I may be able to reflect any blow. I
moved back directly in the path from which I just came, hoping that it was
exact opposite of her cubs. I was too
scared to move suddenly, praying that my very slow and careful movements would
not provoke her. One step at a time, she’s
approach, stop, and move another step toward me. She didn’t close the distance, rather just
maintained the same space between us.
Afraid to take my eyes away, sure that she would take advantage, I
maintained visual of her face, not necessarily trying to meet her angered eyes. Inch by inch, I continued to move away. It had been an eternity as I began to lose
visual of the spot that her tiny cubs were resting. The mother cat followed me a bit further when
she finally stopped, just holding her ground until I was within what she determined
was a safe enough distance to allow me to return to where I started. The hair that had been standing straight upon
the back of her neck was finally settling back down. She was letting me go. Silently, I thanked her. I got the message loud and clear: Consider this your only warning. There will not be another.
Fortunately,
what I just related did not actually happen.
Could it have? Of course. While I love venturing out into unknown
territory, I also respect my boundaries and respect the territory of
others. However, when is the warning
just not enough? When comes the time to
act? While God’s word has shown us many
examples of mercy and offering a second chance, it also instructs us when it is
time to take a more direct approach.
Does that mean that consequence of wrong-doing must be a harshly
performed act? Of course, not. Not saying that it will be pleasant to the
wrong-doer.
The
author of Hebrews tells us in the twelfth chapter and the eleventh verse that “All discipline for the moment seems not to
be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward
it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” So, what is this writer attempting to tell
us? Discipline, or facing a consequence,
should be applied in the hope of correcting a choice or behavior. If not, the consequences can, and will be far
worse.
On
the other side of that coin, we are fully accountable for are actions. There are no excuses that are
legitimate. We make the choices, we
should expect the equal results for those choices. Read Jeremiah 17:10, Matthew 12:36-37, Luke
47-48, and Romans 14:12. God is watching
what we say and do and He will hold us to the choices we make. If we do not hold ourselves in account for
how we treat family, friends, coworkers, etc.; how should we expect God to show
us mercy when we full well knew that we were not making the right
decisions?
Should
there be a time when the "attack" is warranted?
Think
about it.
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