THINK BEFORE YOU ACT
Proverbs 13:16
Wise people think before they act; fools don’t and even brag about it.
Recently I had to run several errands. I pulled up to the stop light waiting to turn onto the highway, when two new pickup trucks passed by in front of me. There was no dirt, no mud, nothing in the bed of the truck to indicate either truck was used for construction work. They’re the kinds of trucks you see on the road all the time these days. Macho-huge-V8 engine-super tricked out, and driven primarily because, according to the research, buyers like the macho image of a truck. However, most do not need them or use them for the work they were designed for. This is a classic example of folly. A classic example of a person who didn’t think before they acted. You see the average payment on many of these trucks is almost $1,000 per month. Can you even begin to fathom that kind of colossal waste of money? But on top of that, driving that truck sabotages the huge financial wealth you would have gained had you driven an inexpensive vehicle and invested that same money instead. That’s the double whammy of foolishness–of not thinking carefully before you act.
I witness this kind of behavior all the time–people who don’t carefully think before they act. They don’t wisely consider the long-term consequences of their actions. It’s like Eve in the garden all over again. All she saw was the beautiful fruit and she wanted to eat it. She didn’t wisely consider that her actions would eventually kill her, and infect everyone from that moment forward with a terrible, terminal disease.
All of us, no matter who we are, can be impulsive. Something catches our eye, we want it, we buy it. Something pops into our head, in the heat of the moment, emotions flooding our senses and we say, text, or email something we end up regretting, something that causes real damage. Habits take hold of our lives because we don’t wisely think of the long-term ramifications of our actions, we only consider the here and now.
This happens in marriages. It happens in people’s parenting. It happens in people’s finances. It happens in people’s material purchases. It happens with people’s health. It happens with the habits people choose to nurture and develop.
So consider these questions:
Does wisdom really lead your life, or emotion?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of your choices and decisions?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of your parenting decisions?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of how you handle your money?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of how you treat your spouse?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of how you operate your marriage?
Have you considered the long-term consequences of the habits you currently practice?
Think for a moment of the millions of parents who simply went with the crowd, got their child a smartphone, let them spend countless hours on social media, never once considering the long-term consequences of that decision, or how this impacted their child developmentally.
I encourage you now, before it’s too late, to step back, re-examine the actions of your life, and consider: What are the long-term ramifications and implications of each one? Have you really thought carefully before you acted?
Never forget this–Life is a very, very serious endeavor. Are you treating it that way?
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
