Grosey's Messages

Philippians 3 

Philippians 3:13-21 ESV

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. [15] Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. [16] Only let us hold true to what we have attained. [17] Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. [18] For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

“What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.” Aristotle

“If you don’t make up your mind, then your unmade mind will unmake you.” Author and missionary E. Stanley Jones

“In the end, the choices we make will make us.” Unknown source 

“What we think or what we know or what we believe is in the end of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.” English writer John Ruskin

“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.” English banker Josiah Stamp

A Simple Plan, a 1998 movie starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton, reminds us of the inevitable consequences of our actions. Small-town feed-store accountant, Hank Mitchell (played by Bill Paxton) along with two of his beer-guzzling buddies (one of them played by Billy Bob Thornton) stumble onto a $4 million dollar jackpot when they discover a bag of money in a crashed propeller plane buried in the snowy serenity of a Midwestern wilderness. The moment they discover the cash, they know it must be dirty money. But what to do?

They know what they should do, but greed immediately begins to stir their

imaginations. Mitchell decides they will hide the money until spring. At that point, if no one has come looking for the money, the three of them will divide it up. All they have to do is to remain quiet until then.

But from the beginning, a comedy of errors sucks them deeper and deeper into the crime cycle. Distrust, dissention, and disaster stalk them each step of the way. The bazaar ending reminds us of this truth: crime will always cost more than it pays.

When I saw this movie I was haunted by the developing dishonesty of even the one who should have been the hero. As I contemplated my feeling of unease, I finally understood why I felt so uncomfortable. If Hank Mitchell could be sucked into such a duplicitous disaster, maybe I could be, too!

This movie provides a stunning reminder of the truth writer Robert Louis Stevenson once penned: “Everybody soon or late sits down to a banquet of consequences.”

GETTING THE 

RIGHT CONSEQUENCES

• As you make your decisions this week, LOOK BACK. What experiences in the past will help you make the wisest decision in the present?
• As you make your decisions this week, LOOK AROUND. Given the circumstances of your life right now, what is the wise thing to do?
• As you make your decisions this week, LOOK FORWARD. What will be the result of this decision? How will it affect you? How will it affect those around you? Will it limit your future plans or facilitate them? 

SURPRISING CONSEQUENCES

• A boy of 15 approached his mother to ask permission to join the British navy. His brother had already enlisted, and he simply wanted to follow in his brother’s footsteps. But his widowed mother remonstrated and begged the boy to stay at home instead of enlisting. He chose to follow his mother’s request. A few years later this young man answered the call to lead the battle against the British. His name was George Washington.
• A young college student at Claremont Men’s College near Los Angeles was determining his class schedule for his freshman year. He was a political-science major, but he needed an elective to fill out his schedule. He chose as his elective course “improvisational theater.” He was hooked. That young man became famous actor Robin Williams.

Little choices. Yes, they probably seemed to be at the time, but these little choices put these individuals on trajectories that shaped their future lives. And had the choices not been made, their future lives would have been far different. Every choice we make every day shapes our lives by creating a new set of circumstances in which future choices must be made. And sometimes our choices have surprising consequences. 

TWO THOUGHTS

“When you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, the time will come when you can do the things you want to do when you want to do them.” Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.” American author Bruce Barton